FURIOUS councillors could boycott vital meetings at Bury Town Hall which were branded an insult to the taxpayer by a political party leader.

Labour and Liberal Democrat representatives say Bury Council’s ruling Tories ignore what they say at scrutiny panels.

Usually, the Executive committee, made up of nine Tories, makes key decisions about the borough’s services, but not before the panels have had their say.

However, opposition councillors, who make up the scrutiny groups, claim the Tories sometimes ignore their views — or make a decision before they have had a chance to debate the issue.

Things came to a head on August 6 when councillors discussed the future of care for the elderly in Bury.

At the end of a debate, some councillors asked the Executive members to take time out to digest the points raised before they made a decision.

But the Conservatives said no.

Even Conservative Cllr Roy Walker opposed the decision.

He said: “How can you possibly rush a decision on such a huge issue? It shows scrutiny in Bury is practically non-existent.”

Cllr Vic D’Albert, a Lib Dem, said: “On another occasion, we turned up to debate a streetlighting issue and a vote was taken before we got chance. We might as well not bother going along.”

Lib Dem leader Tim Pickstone said he would table a motion at the next full council meeting in September urging the Tories to participate more in democracy.

If there is no change, it has been suggested by party sources that the option of boycotting the scrutiny meeting will be explored.

Leader of the Labour Party, Cllr Mike Connolly, said: “Scrutiny in Bury is dead. These meetings are an insult to the taxpayer.

“Depending on the wording, we would support the Lib Dems motion.

“We would not rule out joining them if they walked out of the scrutiny committees.”

Bury deputy leader, Cllr Yvonne Creswell, said: “Scrutiny is working, but it’s not perfect.

“They are issues that were present before the Conservatives came to power.

“Recently, all three parties met and decided a report be drawn up on how we can improve scrutiny, which is a tremendously important process.”