A COUNCIL cabinet of nine top ranking Labour councillors could be making all the key town hall decisions in Blackburn and Darwen by next May.

A new executive board of councillors may be set up to perform a similar role to the government's cabinet, with members being given portfolios for the education, housing, social services and regeneration.

Opposition councillors will only be able to question board decisions once they reach an executive committee stage. But the executive committee will include all board members as well as Liberals and Conservatives.

The proposed new structure is revealed on a memo, drawn up by leaders of Blackburn with Darwen Council's majority Labour group, and leaked to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

Under the new structure, the number of formal committee meetings will be cut by around a half and a committee will be set up to oversee matters of public standards.

The full council will only meet twice a year, although there will be regular council forum meetings across the borough where people will be able to ask for issues of concern to be discussed.

Planning, highways and public protection committees will remain because councils are bound by law to have them.

Councillors winning top jobs on the executive board would be given higher allowances, although the overall cost of councillors' allowances would only rise by £277 per year from £373,973 to £374,100.

The council leader would see his or her basic allowance rise from £9,000 to £17,000 with his deputies receiving £10,000 each compared to £3,600 at the moment.

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