ANGRY Tory councillors have hit out over the cancellation of Tuesday's meeting of Trafford council due to 'lack of business.'

They claim they are being starved of information since the authority's controlling Labour group axed most committees and introduced a new Cabinet-style of local government.

Tory leader Cllr Frank Eadie said: "It is the first time a meeting of the full council has been cancelled since Trafford was established in 1974 - it couldn't have happened under the old system.

"The problem is so few cabinet decisions have gone to the poliicy committee for ratification that it isn't worth holding a council meeting.

"It could be that the cabinet hasn't been making any decisions. But as the cabinet meets in secret we don't know.

"Opposition councillors are not getting enough information about what is going on in cabinet - and the public are not getting information at all."

Trafford has set up a system of area boards and scrutiny committees to replace the old committee structure. Members of the public are invited to attend the meetings - and even speak at them.

But Cllr Eadie said: "Very few members of the public are turning up and the sort of issues they are raising are the sort of things they would normally raise at councillors surgeries.

"We have always had our doubts about the new system and so far it does not seem to be working at all well."

A letter sent out by the Town Hall to all councillors stated the meeting had been cancelled because 'there are no matters which need to be considered by the council'.

Leader of the council David Acton said: "The council meeting was cancelled with the agreement of the Tory members of the policy committee. I would have been quite happy to have a meeting.

"There were 31 items on the agenda. They could have asked for a meeting to discuss any of them and I would have agreed. But they chose not to do so."

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