Central Bedfordshire Council wants the number of councillors on Ampthill Town Council to be reduced from 12 to 9 though this would not save any money, as all councillors are unpaid volunteers.
Ampthill Town Council believe this would impose an unmanageable burden on the volunteer councillors and we are asking for the support of residents to respond to CBC’s consultation before 26th January and to oppose this proposal.
https://centralbedfordshire.welcomesyourfeedback.net/s/CGRStage2
Why does CBC want this?
ATC has not had enough candidates come forward at election time to hold a vote for the last two elections (2019 and 2023) and CBC believe reducing the number of councillors would mean that there would be more candidates than roles and it would force an election and be more democratic.
ATC’s response
We believe reducing the number of roles is not guaranteed to force an election, but would definitely reduce the capacity to manage the work of the council, including the ability to scrutinise the work of CBC by responding to consultations and ensuring they deliver on their commitments to the town.
It is difficult to attract candidates to give up their time to be a councillor because of work and family commitments. We’d like to make this more possible, but we can’t if there are fewer Councillors.
Having fewer councillors means a less diverse council, less representation of residents, increased pressure on each councillor, less scrutiny of decisions. It would be less democratic.
Ampthill is changing and has some major challenges, including the development of Universal Studios, and we need to ensure we have enough councillors to take on those challenges on everyone’s behalf.