Area Committees On Way Out

A plan to replace Leicester's area committees with community meetings has been given the go-ahead by the Labour run council.

Twenty-two groups will be set up, one for each ward from April 2008.

Councillor Peter Coley, leader of the Leicester Liberal Democrat group told local press, "This doesn't seem to be a great deal different from area committees. It's going to mean double the cost of supporting these meetings. Yes there are some advantages, but it's not what it really claims to be."

The Liberal Democrat and Conservative administration introduced area committees in 2004.

It will cost about £227,500 a year for the council to provide support to the area meetings and there will be start-up costs of £7,500.