The future shape of democracy in Bradford and district could be decided in secret by Labour councillors on Monday.

The controlling group is expected to take a crucial decision involving Westminster-style one-party cabinet rule at a private meeting at City Hall - weeks before a public consultation exercise has been completed.

Council leader Councillor Ian Greenwood has put forward a plan for reorganising the way the council works months ahead of Government legislation which forces local authorities to modernise their approach.

The final decision will have to be taken by the full council but the Labour group's majority is so large that its decision will almost certainly become policy.

Opposition groups have described the situation as a "sham" and even some Labour councillors have told the Telegraph & Argus they fear any new system imposed ahead of public consultation could become so entrenched that it would be difficult to change later.

Coun Greenwood has pledged that leaflets outlining the options facing the Council as it goes into the Millennium - which could also include a directly-elected mayor - will go to the district's 140,000 households and their views will be taken into account.

But today large sections of the district had not received them and the deliveries will continue into next week.

The Telegraph & Argus can reveal the shake-up is so far down the line that the Labour group executive of senior councillors has already been shown a model of a 12-strong cabinet of executive councillors led by the council leader and all-party scrutiny panels to question their decisions. These, however, would be balanced in favour of the controlling party.

The proposed system includes a "cabinet question time" at the Council meetings and reduces the 41 committee and sub-committees to 32. The number of committee seats would be reduced by half.

The T&A understands the document to be discussed by the full Labour group on Monday is headed "Summary of Proposals" but today Coun Greenwood said it was an "illustrative" model which had been drawn up after two away-days for Labour councillors when they had studied ideas put forward by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott for modernising the authority. He said the documents had been looked at by the executive but were not proposals and no decisions had been taken.

He said the many issues involving modernisation would be discussed fully by the group which was expected to take some decisions. But he stressed the scheme already put forward was illustrative and was "not necessarily by any means" what would be adopted.

Coun Greenwood has already said he does not favour a directly-elected mayor and would like an all-Labour cabinet which would exclude the press and public from meetings.

The council is being forced to modernise by the Government which has put forward three suggested models. Only two of them have been included in a questionnaire sent to 140,000 households in the district. The Government has said that if five per cent of the electorate wanted a directly-elected mayor a referendum must be held and the result would be binding.

Coun Greenwood said a final decision on an interim revamp for Bradford would be taken at the Council's annual meeting in May.

Today leading Tory councillors said the Council consultation was a "sham" and the public were being treated with contempt.

Deputy leader of the Council's Tory group Councillor Richard Wightman said: "This consultation exercise by Bradford Council is a sham and I think it is a pretence. I think it is already decided.

"I believe Coun Greenwood sees public opinion as irrelevant and wants to push this through in haste. I believe he won't be deflected from his course."

Leader of the Liberal Democrat group Councillor Jeanette Sunderland said she was concerned that all residents had not received the Council leaflets but she had, in any case, objected to its wording which she claimed did not give a true picture.

Coun Greenwood admitted that the Council questionnaires were still going out, but said: "We need to move down this route."

He said the views of the public on the models would be considered. "If people wanted an mayor elected we would have to take it seriously."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.