The decision to scrap Stafford Borough Council's Community Portfolio and Scrutiny Committee has been described as short-sighted by a leading Councillor.

Barry Stamp, Leader of the Council's Liberal Democrat Group, said he could not understand the logic behind the decision, especially as it was being carried out by a Party who had stressed the need to improve public safety as part of its recent Council election campaign.

"Improvements in community safety and better policing have played a major part in the Conservative's recent election campaign. However, within days of taking control of the Council, they have decided to scrap both the post of Deputy Leader for Community and the Scrutiny Committee designed to monitor this work. The new Council Cabinet claims they can provide the same level of services and scrutiny by spreading the work between other existing Council functions. I am worried that this shows no real commitment to improving community safety. The Council should be developing new ways to make our communities safer, and I believe this work is so important it should not be watered down by joining it with other areas of Council activities. A few days ago local residents were asked to vote for Conservative Councillors as they were determined to make our communities feel safer. No doubt many of those voters will now feel let down and confused by this move," said Cllr Stamp.