FIVE senior councillors have been handed the job of steering economic and financial recovery as the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.

But the policy and resources recovery sub-committee was slated before it could even meet for the first time.

And the knock-on effects on Brighton and Hove City Council’s working arrangements also led to criticism from the Conservatives who said that the changes were undemocratic.

Labour council leader Nancy Platts will chair the recovery sub-committee and her predecessor, Labour councillor Daniel Yates, who speaks on finance for the administration, will join her.

The Green opposition leader Phélim Mac Cafferty and his party’s finance lead, Councillor David Gibson, will also sit on the sub-committee, with Tory finance lead Councillor Joe Miller.

At the Annual Council meeting on Thursday Independent councillor Bridget Fishleigh said that she had no confidence in the “skills, experience, knowledge and abilities” of the five members.

Councillor Fishleigh said: “I’m being blunt but if you don’t know what a Swot (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) test is or a cost-benefit analysis, if you don’t know how to read a financial spreadsheet or write a business plan, then I don’t think you should be on any strategic committee.

“The Labour Party has been in power in our city for five years now. Few would disagree that the city continues to be an unwieldy mess – a place where vanity projects are pushed along despite the protests of residents from across the city.”

Councillor Fishleigh, who represents Rottingdean Coastal ward, initially voted against the new arrangements before the prospect of hours of separate votes persuaded her to accept the changes.

After the meeting she said: “Life is definitely too short for that.”

The recovery sub-committee – and its membership – was just one of several committees, sub-committees, boards, panels and working groups that were the subject of a formal agreement at the Annual Council meeting.

But the committee changes – including the allocation of seats to each party – left the Tories feeling short-changed.

Conservative leader Steve Bell unsuccessfully called for a fresh look at the balance of seats. But he said that his party “fully supported” the creation of the recovery sub-committee as it would mean that important decisions were made in public.

Councillor Platts said: “We hope that the committee will be temporary and only short term but lifting the lockdown in other towns and cities abroad has resulted in outbreaks of the virus.

“So this may mean the committee is with us for the whole year. These are the uncertainties that we are all dealing with right now.

“The choice of either a working group or formal sub-committee was offered in good faith to both opposition parties and their input and preference welcomed and accepted.”

“This was done without the knowledge of any impact on seats. That said, we have a constitution, and the Labour Group accepts that we should abide by that – and it means we lose a seat on one committee.”

Councillor Mac Cafferty said: “I’ve seen this policy work both for and against the Green group of councillors. But I’ve never tried to challenge it. It is really quite unprecedented.”