Lord Hanningfield, Conservative leader of Essex County Council, has slammed a proposal by the Liberal Democrats to allow the public to speak directly to councillors at council meetings and to ask questions about the work of the council. The Leader made his comments at a debate on public participation at a meeting of the full council.

Responding to the comments, Cllr Tom Smith-Hughes, Liberal Democrats group leader on Essex County Council, said:

"The Leader's comments today show a level of arrogance that is almost impossible to comprehend. There are many district and borough councils across Essex that have had such a permanent and designated spot for members of the public for several years. We are only asking for something that the public is getting already from their councils locally anyway.

I'm sure the public is as fed up as I and my Liberal Democrat colleagues are, with this high-handed Conservative Leader and administration, fobbing us off with loaded questions on public consultations and passing those off as meaningful public engagement. There is no direct public involvement at the decision making level of the county council and the public is only involved when specifically invited in.

The Conservative talk of localism and devolvement of power to the people is clearly just talk. The Conservatives are simply not to be trusted on this issue."