Row breaks out over dual role appointment at Enfield Council
Labour accuse new Tory administration of sidelining children’s services by pairing it with the chief whip job
A dispute has broken out over how the new Conservative administration at Enfield Council has structured its cabinet, with Labour taking aim at the decision to give one councillor responsibility for both children’s services and the role of chief whip.
Abdul Abdullahi, who held the children’s services brief under the previous Labour administration, argued that the portfolio is too substantial to be paired with another demanding political role. He described it as one of the council’s biggest spending areas, with oversight covering children’s social care, SEND provision, safeguarding, and work with schools and families across the borough.
Running the whipping operation in a minority administration, he added, is itself a full-time task requiring constant political management. Bundling the two together, he warned, risks children’s services being treated as secondary to the pressures of keeping a fragile administration afloat.
Council leader Alessandro Georgiou defended his appointment of Chris Dey to the combined role, saying children’s services remains a top priority for his administration and that Dey will have the full backing needed to deliver results.
Georgiou outlined a series of commitments in the area, including expanding early help services, improving attendance in schools, strengthening support for vulnerable families, and making the SEND system more responsive.
The row is playing out against a broader restructuring of the cabinet. The Conservatives scrapped four associate cabinet member roles that had been held by Labour councillors under the previous administration.
Those positions carried no decision-making powers and were linked to geographical areas rather than policy portfolios, but each came with an annual allowance of over £8,000.
Abolishing them had been an explicit manifesto commitment. At last week’s annual council meeting, Georgiou announced the move as one of his opening acts, saying the posts had been cut within the first ten minutes of his administration at a saving of just under £33,000.
Comments ()