The Leader of the Oxfordshire Alliance group at Oxfordshire County Council, Councillor Liam Walker, has raised concerns following the decision by the Leader of the County Council to remove responsibility for the Fire & Rescue Service from a cabinet member and transfer it to the Deputy Leader.
The move effectively strips Councillor Jenny Hannaby, Cabinet Member for Community Safety & Wellbeing, of her primary portfolio responsibility overseeing the Fire & Rescue service, a change Councillor Walker says raises clear questions about leadership and value for money.
Responsibility for the Fire & Rescue Service has now been absorbed by the Deputy Leader, prompting questions about whether the original cabinet post remains necessary. Cabinet members receive a special responsibility allowance of just under £23,000 per year.
Councillor Walker said the decision appears to signal a lack of confidence at the top of the administration and has called for greater transparency about the future of the role.
Cllr Liam Walker said: "Nothing says a lack of confidence more clearly than removing a cabinet member’s main responsibility. If the Leader no longer trusts Cllr Hannaby to oversee one of the most important frontline services we have, residents deserve to know why. With the Deputy Leader now taking over the Fire & Rescue Service, it raises an obvious and serious question, what is the purpose of the original cabinet post now?"
Cllr Thomas Ashby, who is the Oxfordshire Alliance group shadow cabinet member for Community Safety & Wellbeing, said: "At a time when residents are being told budgets are tight and services are under pressure, it is very difficult to justify paying a cabinet allowance of just under £23,000 for a role that appears to have been hollowed out. This reshuffle creates confusion and raises legitimate concerns about whether council structures are serving residents or simply sustaining positions that are no longer needed and an allowance boost for Liberal Democrat councillors.”
The opposition councillors are calling on the council leadership to clarify the future of the cabinet role and explain how the current arrangements represent value for taxpayers.
