Honesty and transparency are key priorities for Central Bedfordshire Council's new administration

Honesty and transparency are key priorities for Central Bedfordshire Council’s new Independent administration – along with forging closer links with towns.

Setting out their priorities at a full council meeting, leader of the council and Independent Potton councillor Adam Zerny stressed the need for “openness and scrutiny”, with council committees chaired by members not part of the Independent administration.

“I want to be leader for everyone here,” he said. “I don’t want adversarial politics. I want this to be a consensus. The most important people are the residents who pay their hard-earned cash for the council tax which we spend.

“We feel strongly about honesty and made announcements about schools and highways, which could be perceived as negative. When the news isn’t great, you have to tell people just as quickly.

“Finance will be vital to us. But our approach is more Micawber than Merlin. Any new expenditure will need to be fully funded. If you produce sensible ideas, we’re one step towards achieving it already.”

Wilkins Micawber is a character in Charles Dickens's novel David Copperfield – associated with the optimistic belief that "something will turn up".

Councillor Zerny talked of the commitment towards a two-tier education system, saying: “There’s nothing worse than lacking absolute confidence that something will work.

“We must ensure the money is there as we don’t want to leave schools in the lurch later on.

“We’ll put our names to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and work closely with officers to bring a better deal for children and families affected by this. Many councillors across the board feel strongly about it.

“We want to progress the youth parliament and get young people involved in what the council does. There could be more done to engage them, so their debates influence the council’s processes and principles.

“One thing really important to us is sustainability, climate and environment,” he explained. “We want to make sure this is no longer a box ticking exercise.

“That’s climate resilience, which will affect public transport, renewable energy, where developments are built and avoiding overdevelopment. We’re going to make this a big part of council decision-making for years to come.

“The council has missed a trick on interaction with towns. It’s not just Leighton Buzzard. Other towns feel they don’t have that close link with CBC.

“We want to work with the joint committees, talk to towns about what they believe they need and understand what an aspirational check list should be.

“There are a couple of issues, health and policing, where CBC doesn’t have any direct fundamental decision-making role, but which affect everyone.

“We need to be talking much more with BLMK integrated care board, government and ministers about where we can put health hubs, where we get the funding and what communities want from these resources.”

Councillor Zerny called for more scrutiny of the Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner by councillors, and “potentially involve him and the Chief Constable in debates here with us”.

He added planning, adult social care, New Vista Homes, Carers Central, CBC’s Local Plan and our relationships with neighbouring local authorities “are all crucial areas, which will feed into a new strategic plan we’ll be putting together”.