BARNSLEY’S Liberal Democrat councillors have seen their calls for a referendum on the way elections are held in the town rejected after the council chamber voted in favour of holding them once every four years.

New proposals put forward would see an all-out election every four years meaning every council seat would be up for grabs.

Currently, Barnsley holds local elections by thirds, with an election each year for three consecutive years, followed by a year without elections.

That system has been in place for around half a century.

A consultation was held with residents, and 87 per cent of more than 1,000 people were in favour of the plans.

They highlighted reasons such as providing cost savings, increased stability, and alignment with other council.

Only 13 per cent opposed the change, citing reasons such as potential councillor complacency and loss of regular public input.

However, the Liberal Democrat group voted against the changes at the town hall on Thursday, calling for a referendum to be held as the consultation only included 0.5 per cent of the borough.

This was rejected during the meeting.

Leader of the Lib Dems, Coun Hannah Kitching, said: “This move to reduce the number of elections for the people of Barnsley understandably raises many concerns.

“Residents already feel detached from the council, like it doesn’t listen to them, and reducing their only way to hold the council accountable will increase this feeling.

“While it is true that this will save a small amount of money, as Liberal Democrats, we don’t believe there should be a price on efficient and accountable democracy, particularly in a way that completely undermines decisions made by the council less than two years ago where savings to the council, by reducing the number of councillors, could have been made.”

Coun Dickie Denton also expressed his concerns regarding the proposals.

He said that the change could be interpreted and presented by others as a ‘panicked attempt by Labour to secure long-term control of the council in the face of emerging political opposition’.

He added: “I believe this proposal is wrong on so many levels.

“The council claim that they are acting on the ‘clearly expressed will’ of the public via a public consultation.

“That ‘will’ represents just 0.5 per cent of Barnsley’s electorate.

“How can this be ‘the clearly expressed will of the public’?

“We should let the public decide on this via a formal referendum next May.”

Coun Denton says that residents should be able to hold councillors to account at the ballot box, and the new move will mean that will no longer happen.

“This is a poorly presented case for change on the basis of the views of a very small percentage of the electorate,” he said.

“The argument around cost saving, alignment and stability are tenuous ones at best and any real concerns could be addressed in alternative ways that do not look like a subjugation of our democracy.

“Local government moves quickly, and the public should be able to deliver their verdict on their elected representative performance more than once every four years, or at least determine themselves how often they hold councillors accountable at the ballot box.”

Barnsley Council leader Sir Steve Houghton said that the move is ‘common sense’.

He added: “We know nationally, not just in Barnsley, the public are disenchanted with politics.

“This should not lead us to the conclusion that the consultation we had does not have any value, because it does.

“It clearly represents a view that is widely held within the borough.

“Barnsley Council always listens to its residents.

“It’s common sense to do what we are doing.

“It is not a party political issue.

“We have consulted the public thoroughly and effectively.

“We need to ensure we make the right decision in the circumstances that we have.”

INDEPENDENT councillor Andy Wray has hit out at the council over what he called ‘poor consultation’ over the changes to local elections.

The Rockingham councillor was on the side of the Liberal Democrat Group at last Thursday’s meeting as proposals for elections to be held in Barnsley every four years was passed.

But Coun Wray says that many of the residents in his ward had not even heard about the plans.

He said: “In the Barnsley local elections held on May 2 2024, a total of 44,967 people voted.

“This resulted in a 24.14 per cent turnout for the borough.

“The estimated population of Barnsley metropolitan borough is 250,000

“According to GOV.UK, Barnsley Council issues approximately 110,000 to 115,000 main council tax bills each year.

“Yet only just over 1,000 people had their say on this consultation that’s 0.5 per cent.

“Lots of people in my ward, Rockingham, telling me they never knew about this consultation period of six weeks.

“Yes, we always hear this about a number of important issues regularly.

“I do believe a six-week consultation period was long enough.

“But on such an important issue like this the way Barnsley Council have asked for the views of their residents has been far from acceptable.”