OPPOSITION leaders have accused West Dunbartonshire Council's new Labour ruling group of breaking their own rules at the very first meeting of the new term.

The SNP claimed Labour had loaded some of the council's key committees with too many of the ruling party's own members - and claimed Labour had "blocked" the SNP and Community Party from representing voters.

The key appointments were made on Wednesday, May 18, at the council's first meeting since the local authority elections earlier this month. 

The SNP - who ran the council as a minority administration for five years prior to the May 5 poll - said Labour had installed a "disproportionate number" of its own councillors on the authority's education committee and other bodies.

The SNP group said in a statement: "Labour have taken 10 of the 14  seats on the education committee, all three seats on the Community Alliance, all three seats on community panning, all three seats on the Dumbarton Educational Trust, all four seats on the shared services joint committee, all three seats on the health and social care partnership and both seats on Lomond and Clyde Care and Repair."

The opposition group also claimed Labour had broken the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) rules on political balance - rules they said Labour had introduced when it controlled COSLA in 2017.

The SNP also complained that Labour had refused to give the opposition a majority on the council's powerful audit committee - something the opposition claimed was against "normal practice" - by allocating half of the commitee's eight seats to Labour members.

The authority's SNP opposition leader, Councillor Karen Conaghan said: “Labour, as the administration, have an absolute mandate to take a majority on council committees, as both previous SNP and Labour administrations have done.

“They have followed convention with other council committees but have specifically chosen these bodies to keep the SNP away.

“We will challenge this position at the June council and hope that common sense and the principles of democracy and openness prevail.”

Councillor Gordon Scanlan (SNP, Kilpatrick), the depute leader of the opposition, said he feared Labour's large majority on the education committee in particular might lead to projects such as the planned 'shared campus' in Faifley being scrapped.

“As a local member for the Kilpatrick ward, I am extremely concerned about the future of the SNP’s plans for Faifley’s new schools, community centre and library," Cllr Scanlan said.

“Labour have taken so many seats on the education committee that the opinion of parents, pupils and teaching reps now count for nothing when key decisions around education are voted on, and that cannot be right.

“The administration has a right to govern. What they do not have is the right to avoid scrutiny and make decisions in the dark.

"We live in a democracy, not a dictatorship. I hope that this error in judgement is fixed at June council, and we can move on from this, delivering for our communities and doing so with openness and transparency.”

Council leader Martin Rooney responded: “This is a majority Labour authority, and I am always happy to work with others.

"We are more than capable of representing all of the views of the people of West Dunbartonshire on COSLA."