It has taken Brighton and Hove Council more than three months to work out its proposed new system of government.

Citizens decisively rejected having a directly-elected mayor running the city in a referendum last October.

Other cities which took the same vote have opted for a Cabinet system instead.

Brighton and Hove is unique in opting for an improved version of the old committee system.

Council leader Ken Bodfish, after long discussions with the leaders of the three opposition parties, thinks the city may have cracked it.

He said: "We are very excited by the new proposals. They are democratic and they will be efficient."

They will go before the public over the next three weeks before being considered by councillors on February 21.

If approved by the council and the Government, they will be put into operation by the end of May, when the new civic year starts.

But Coun Bodfish said he hoped an experimental version could start from March, with the opening up of executive decision-making meetings.

The new proposals will be based on the old system, under which most councils have operated for the last 30 years. But they will be far more streamlined.

There will be a main policy and resources committee which will look at strategy and money.

It will also liaise with other bodies, such as police and health authorities.

It will have three sub-committees: One will deal with licensing, another with managing council housing and the third with personnel.

The culture, regeneration and housing committee will cover arts, leisure, museums, libraries, economic development, major projects and adult learning.

An environment committee will look at transport, roads, parking, community safety, parks, waste, development control and travellers.

There will be a sub-committee dealing with planning applications.

The other two main committees will cover education and social services.

Brighton and Hove will also have a committee devoted to scrutiny to examine how it is performing.

Scrutiny reviews, such as those currently looking at the Palmeira Project and grants, will be conducted by appointed panels.

The present standards committee, with seven councillors and eight independent members, will continue to ensure councillors maintain a high standard of conduct.

There will be 15 members of the policy committee and 11 councillors on the other main committees. All meetings will be open to the public, with papers available beforehand.

The council will meet as at present and be the main decision-making body.

Coun Bodfish said the new system would dovetail with the reorganisation of departments already carried out by chief executive David Panter.

It would not cost more than the current system and there would be fewer executive, or Cabinet, councillors.

Some committees and sub-committees have to be established by law but the aim of the review has been to reduce their number as far as possible.

Most councillors will serve on one or more of the main committees and will also be available to carry out scrutiny reviews.

Coun Bodfish said the other parties were broadly in agreement with the proposals and agreed they should go out for consultation.

Liberal Democrats had wanted neighbourhood forums to be set up straight away but Coun Bodfish said it was more important to get the main reorganisation under way before looking at that issue.

He said: "This system will be unique and other authorities are already showing interest."

The council leader hopes it will usher in a new era of consensus politics, with all parties working together for the good of the city.

He added: "Of course we will have our occasional set-piece disagreements but we should not be having battles for the sake of them."

Any comments should be made to chief executive David Panter at Freepost SEA 2619, King's House, Grand Avenue, Hove BN3 2ZZ, by February 15.