The leader of Norfolk County Council has hit back after accusations by his predecessor that he is delegating too much to other councillors - including duties such as attending the Royal Norfolk Show and chairing meetings of the cabinet.
Reform leader David Bick shrugged off criticism by Conservative Kay Mason Billig, who he succeeded as leader at County Hall after May's elections, saying he was busy dealing with the financial fallout from her administration's spell in charge.
During a full council meeting on Tuesday (July 21), Mrs Mason Billig said: "The Royal Norfolk Show is the major showcase of the county during the year and attended by many thousands of people.
"The leader of the council has always attended the show, or at least they did until this year."
She asked Mr Bick to explain why he had not attended and why he had sent his deputy Robin Hunter-Clarke instead.
Mr Bick said: "It was my decision to send the deputy leader. As to why I wasn't there, if she had been in my office and seen the workflow coming through, in very large measure because of the failures of her own administration, she would understand why I wasn't there."
Reform has pledged to make the council more efficient, with Mr Bick saying his administration has identified tens of millions of pounds in overspends and wasted spending by the former Tory administration.
Mrs Mason Billig returned to her theme later in the meeting with a question for Jason Butler, Reform's cabinet member for efficiency, performance and pensions oversight.
She asked whether he considered Mr Bick was providing value for money for his £40,000-a-year special responsibility allowance, given he also delegated responsibility for chairing the last cabinet meeting to his group's chief whip Justine Thomas.
She asked Mr Butler if reducing that allowance would generate a "genuine efficiency saving for Norfolk taxpayers".
Mr Butler replied: "Are you saying, in the efficiency review, should we just reduce the leader's wages?
"Quite frankly, I think we should put them up. What he has to contend with on a daily basis is, quite frankly, unbelievable."
He said he and Mr Bick worked 60-hour weeks and said: "It is unrelenting, the work we have to do to try and find root cause problems, better ways of work and unearthing best practice, as well as bad practice.
"The leader has certainly from what I can see, provided a new sense of optimism, a new sense of hope and a decisiveness in terms of leadership which, sadly, was lacking before."
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