The decision for Bolton not to bid for city status in a Queen’s jubilee competition was ‘made in secret’ and the public and political representatives were not told, a leading councillor has alleged.
Last year, a civic honours competition was launched for the platinum Jubilee with the Queen granting the rare civic honour of ‘city status’ by selecting a number of worthy towns. Bolton Council had previously submitted unsuccessful applications for city status in the 1992, 2000, 2002 and 2012 in similar competitions.
At a recent full council meeting, Labour Coun Richard Silvester spoke about Bolton’s lack of a city bid for 2022. He said that the public of Bolton and back bench councillors had been ‘treated with contempt’ by the council’s Conservative leadership.
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Bolton Council said there was no bid as the authority chose to concentrate on other priorities. This included the pandemic and town centre regeneration.
Chair of corporate scrutiny, Coun Silvester, said: “In response to a question by myself whether this council had made a bid for city status in the competition for jubilee year the leader of the council admitted that he had made a decision in private not to go ahead with a bid. He further stated he had no mechanism to report his decision to this council.
“Members expressed concern as to why other elected members had not been informed about this decision. As chair of the committee I’m very concerned that the leader is making such decisions in secret, in private,on matters of great importance to the future of this town.
“It is far from an open and transparent administration. In my view the leader of the council is treating members with contempt.
“There were many mechanisms available to the leader to inform council of this secret decision however he chose not to use any. He could have emailed, he could have asked for a report to go to his leader’s cabinet member meeting,
"He could have asked for a report to cabinet, he could have consulted with opposition leaders, he could have issued a press release. He could have had a public consultation as the Conservative controlled council of Wrexham did on this issue.
“Those were the mechanisms available to him, he did none of them. There is a question mark on why he acted in such a secretive manner keeping his priva6e decision from the people of the borough.”
Preston, Newport, Stirling, Lisburn and Newry were made cities in 2002, while Brighton & Hove, Wolverhampton and Inverness gained the status in 2000. Chelmsford, Perth and St Asaph were granted the status in 2012 for the diamond jubilee.
Research has shown the vast majority of areas granted city status subsequently outperformed regional counterparts by increasing investment and reducing unemployment.
A spokesman for Bolton Council, said: “Submitting a bid for city status involves a considerable amount of officer time and resource from the council. On this occasion, following discussion with the council leader and other cabinet members, it was decided not to submit a bid so we could prioritise the council’s core services, the response to the on-going pandemic and the substantial regeneration going ahead in the town centre.
“While we do not rule out submitting a bid in the future, we are rightly proud of our status as one of the largest towns in the country which has given us some advantages.”
