'I can no longer serve on the Executive'

Cllr Williams has not responded to Messenger requests for comments on the letter.

October 16 2007 Dear Susan, You will recall that immediately following your dismissal of Cllrs Ian Mullins and Mike Whetton from the Executive last Thursday I came to see you to say that I was dismayed at the action you had taken and needed time to reflect on my own position.

I have now done so and have concluded that I can no longer serve on the Executive for the reasons I set out below.

For some time now I have been concerned about the nature and quality of decision making within the Executive. You know that I expressed great concerns about the handling of the Broadway Doctors surgery' issue. It seems to me that when the Executive could not be won around by good debate and argument (attempted on three occasions) then the decision was taken out of our hands on the on the pretence that this was a strategic issue and therefore appropriate for the group. I believe that the Executive was treated in a contemptible way. In addition, Trafford rate payers have ended up subsidising NHS services by some three quarters of a million pounds at the same time that adult social care is continually looking to reduce the cost of essential services.

I am of the firm belief that the whole issue of the Broadway Doctors' surgery could have been handled in a different and more successful.

I wish to say something about the new town hall' project. At a recent group meeting to discuss the future of the town hall it was clear that most members wished to see a more robust and enthusiastic approach to developing a solution based on the current site as part of an exciting sporting regeneration area. This approach was further advanced by the Conservative members of the town hall steering committee when we met recently. However, at the informal meeting of the Executive last night (15th October) it was clear to me that this view had not been sufficiently taken into account. I base this view on the proposed recommendation by the Deputy Leader, that the Council pursue option three which as you know, I consider to be the original option as presented by you to the group meeting some 18 months ago. I had to intervene to remind the Executive of a possible alternative approach, favoured by most members at a previous group meeting. The motion for group has been amended but I remain convinced that you are seeking only one pre determined solution from this process.

It is for these reasons that I have lost confidence in the Executive's collective decision making process and I see no attempts by you, as Leader, to correct this position.

The leadership of an organisation with a total budget of some £400 million providing services for over 200,000 people requires particular qualities and in my view particular approaches and I have to say these are mostly absent.

I am committed to the principle of collegiate working and open and transparent decision making. I really believe that a different, more inclusive and consensual leadership style is needed.

We are all in this business because we care about the people we represent and the desire to provide first class service and promote our borough.

It is with a heavy heart that I formally submit my resignation from the role of Executive Member for Adult Social Care and Health. I will work on the basis that I remain in post until the next meeting of the Council on October 31, 2007.

Yours sincerely Councillor John Lamb