Barnet Borough Council will make its decisions by committee rather than having a cabinet in charge.

The new system came into effect at the authority's annual council meeting last night and will mean decisions will be made by committees made up of cross-party councillors.

The political make-up of each committee will be proportionate to that of the council as a whole, although each will be led by a Conservative chairman, and decisions will reached on a majority basis.

Council leader Councillor Richard Cornelius said: “We are still only half way through a decade of austerity and there are many tough spending decisions ahead. However we are committed to dealing with these challenges in as open way as possible.

“By having a cross-party committee system, alternatives can be proposed and debated openly.

"I hope this wider openness will encourage a broader and properly informed debate about the future of the council and the borough.”

The committee system replaces the former cabinet system, which the council adopted in 2001.

The committee chairmen will be as follows:

Adults and Safeguarding Committee – Cllr Sachin Rajput
Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee – Cllr Reuben Thompstone
Environment Committee – Cllr Dean Cohen
Assets, Regeneration and Growth Committee – Cllr Richard Cornelius
Community Leadership Committee – Cllr David Longstaff
Policy and Resources Committee – Cllr Richard Cornelius
Performance and Contract Management – Cllr Anthony Finn
Housing Committee – Cllr Tom Davey

And a full list of committees can be found at www.barnet.gov.uk