THE Government has bowed to pressure, supported by The Northern Echo, and told councils it has to make key decisions in public. This is how the Echo's editorial greeted the U-turn on cabinet-style local government:

The Government's intention when it first looked at local government reform was noble. It wanted to stop decisions being taken in secret.

Old-fashioned Labour authorities were the worst offenders. Before meetings, councillors would meet privately and make their decisions, which they would then present to the full council meeting as a fait accompli.

This was clearly a flawed system, but at least local people had the chance to attend the full meeting and watch their representatives in action. If they didn't like what they saw and heard, they had the opportunity to place their vote elsewhere at the next election.

The new system where some councils are allowed to take decisions in closed cabinet meetings is worse. The public can no longer see the decisions that affect them being taken.

The Government attempted to address these concerns by issuing new guidance that will accompany the Local Government Bill. It says 'key decisions' must be made in cabinet meetings that are open to the public.

On the surface, this goes some way to addressing The Northern Echo's concerns in its CouncilWatch campaign. Yet when examined, there are huge contradictions at the heart of this guidance. How can openness, for instance, be beneficial for key decisions and not for less weighty ones? Surely if it is good for one sort of decision, it is good for them all.

Any decision that involves the spending of local rate-payers' money is bound to be of importance to the local community and so deserves to be made in public.