Labour group demand meeting on political future of council

A group of nine councillors have signed a requisition asking the new Provost Karen Murray Conaghan to hold a special meeting to decide the political leadership and direction of the council.

The move comes after the councillors formally stepped down as of Thursday, September 12.

A requisition meeting, such as this, should be called within 14 days of receipt.

The Labour administration resigned nearly a fortnight ago after two of its councillors quit the party ahead of a vote for a new Provost.

Since then, there has been no political ownership of the council.

This notice period excludes Sundays and public holidays meaning this meeting would need to be held before Tuesday, October 1 as Saturday 28 is deemed unlikely and Monday, September 30 is a holiday.

In addition, the council standing orders and Local Government Scotland Act require a minimum of three clear working days' notification of a council meeting, therefore the earliest the special council meeting could be called is Tuesday, September 17.

Councillor Martin Rooney, Labour group leader, said: “Our communities elected each of us to serve and we remain committed to delivering for our residents.

"We have high ambition for the people here and promise to deliver for them in the most challenging of financial times.

"However, our opponents must stop playing games and instead focus on delivering for our constituents.

“We will always put the interests of the people of West Dunbartonshire first and it is vital that we don’t allow the uncertainty over the political direction of the council to continue.”

Councillor Michelle McGinty, Labour group deputy leader added: “It was clear at the Council meeting in August that all opposition councillors had collaborated to elect a new Provost, SNP Councillor Karen Murray Conaghan. 

“The Provost's role as chair of the council is critical to any administration in West Dunbartonshire and voting at the meeting pointed to a new political alliance between SNP, independents and the Community Party.

“It is clear that while this was designed to disrupt the council, it is now up to the SNP Alliance to come forward with their plans to form an administration and remove the uncertainty.

“We have already demonstrated that we are capable of delivering for the people of West Dunbartonshire. However, the basis of our success was having an overall majority which gave us a stable administration, so that we could face the funding challenges head on.”

In recent days, a member of West Dunbartonshire’s Community Party contacted COSLA to ask what happens if no administration takes control.

When contacted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, COSLA said this was a “local matter” for councillors to resolve.

Meanwhile, the SNP’s new group leader councillor Gordon Scanlon is reassuring residents that his group are committed to working on behalf of the people across West Dunbartonshire and will stand up for their communities. 

Councillor Scanlon said: “The decision of the Labour group to resign the administration was an abdication of responsibility and a vote of no confidence in their own agenda to govern.

 “Be under no illusion, the Labour group still has the most councillors both at full council and every committee to pass their agenda.

 “The SNP group are committed to working for the people of Clydebank, Dumbarton and the Vale and will continue to stand up for our communities despite being significantly short-handed in terms of numbers at every council and committee meeting.

 “Lastly, this news came at the same meeting in which the public discovered a 5.5 million pound “unforeseen” overspend by WDC under the watch of the Labour administration which will significantly impact the coming budget in March and will inflict further pain on our communities.

“The SNP group are considering our options on how best to hold this unacceptable oversight to account and find a path forward.’’

Provost Karen Murray Conaghan has been approached for comment.