THE Leader of Mid Devon District Council has issued a statement following his recent meeting with representatives from the Campaign for Local Democracy in Mid Devon group.

Cllr Bob Deed met with group representatives Alderman David Nation and Paul and Judy Tucker, to discuss the campaign group’s concerns over governance and decision making in the District Council.

The campaign group, which was formed in April, had said that it wished to allow the new council elected in May, time to settle in before pressing it on reforms the group felt necessary.

The campaign group’s concerns arose from a number of decisions made by the previous Conservative administration either which did not meet with the wishes of the full council or were made without the knowledge of councillors, not by the six-member strong Cabinet.

When elected to lead the council in May, Cllr Deed had said that he wanted a review of the council’s constitution.

In response to the comments raised about governance at Mid Devon District Council, Councillor Deed issued the following statement: "I am aware that concerns have been raised about governance at Mid Devon District Council.

"I will see whether there are genuine and positive improvements we can make to our governance arrangements, whilst respecting the law relating to local authority functions.

"I will be looking at options over the next few weeks and take a paper to my Cabinet colleagues for review in due course.

"Any recommendations for change will then be sent to Full Council via the Standards Committee.”

Following the meeting with Cllr Deed, Alderman David Nation said: "We were encouraged that the new Lib Dem/Independent council has put a review in train and we look forward to hearing the results in the autumn.

"Meantime, we are keen to contribute in any way we can to ensure that the outcome is meaningful and addresses our concerns without diminishing the efficiency or effectiveness of the authority.

"A structure is needed which ensures that all councillors are aware of what is going on and are able to influence events.

"Where major decisions are involved, the views of the full council should be paramount.”