Labour opposition councillors have criticised council plans to prevent members of the public asking questions at certain council meetings.

Barnet Borough Council will meet at Hendon Town Hall on Thursday to vote on amending its constitution to prevent members of the public from asking questions at some overview and scrutiny committee meetings.

Members of the public would be unable to ask questions on call-ins, where councillors can be asked to reconsider decisions that committee members think might go against budget or policy frameworks, or pre-decision scrutiny, where proposals from councillors are inspected.

Labour’s deputy group leader Councillor Barry Rawlings branded this proposal ‘wrong-headed’ and said his party would do all it could to ensure the decision to amend the constitution was not approved during the vote at 6pm.

He said: “If this policy goes through, members of the public could only ask questions at cabinet meetings once a decision is made, rather than having a role in informing and improving a decision by asking questions and making recommendations during overview and scrutiny meetings.”

Cllr Rawlings added since Barnet Council was in the middle of a judicial review about its inadequate consultation process into the One Barnet privatisation programme, he found it "staggering" it would want to further restrict the rights of the public to hold the council to account.

He said: “It seems to me the council is treating residents with contempt. This policy gives the impression Conservative councillors do not want to hear what the public has to say. It is hard for the council to prove it is being open and transparent if it is restricting consultation.”

Labour group leader Councillor Alison Moore added: "It is very important for members of the public to have the ability to speak and question the council’s decisions at all meetings, especially on issues of public safety and housing, which are discussed in these scrutiny meetings. Members of the public have too few opportunities to speak out, so each one is important.”

The Barnet Alliance for Public Services (BAPS) is also concerned about the negative effects of this decision on democracy. It believes if this rule had been applied earlier, residents would not have been able to ask questions about the One Barnet scheme.

BAPS coordinator Tirza Waisel said: “Barnet Council cannot justify this attempt to limit residents’ powers of scrutiny over their decisions. It has just been taken to the High Court to explain why it did not consult residents over the One Barnet outsourcing programme. Now it is trying to sneak through an amendment to the constitution to further gut Barnet Council of all democracy.”

A council spokesman said: “These proposals, as presented within the Committee report, are a result of a cross party working group. The proposals are intended to ensure members of the public are able to ask questions at the most appropriate forum and get answers from the decision makers.

“At the moment public questions are directed to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Chairman who is not a member of the Executive and therefore does not necessarily have the responses nor accountability for the decision.

“The change would not apply to the majority of Overview and Scrutiny meetings. They would only apply when committees are considering call-ins or undertaking pre-decision scrutiny of executive decisions.

“Members of the public will still be able to make comments and address the Committee for up to five minutes. This allows Overview and Scrutiny Committee members to take these comments into account during debate."