2015 saw celebrations for the 800th year since King John granted the Magna Carta to the Barons at Runnymede. Wiltshire Council was swift to confirm that the spirit of Magna Carta lives on. The establishment of the rights set out in the Magna Carta was a gradual process both before and after 1215. The King went back on his word and the rights had to be negotiated and fought for over many years with charters being granted in 1216, 1225 and 1253. Much credit is due to the work of Stephen Langton and William Marshall. The Petition of Rights of 1628, in the reign of Charles 1, was based on Magna Carta and continued to safeguard the liberties of the people.

There are always dangers to guard against at all levels of government. Currently this seems to be especially the case at local level where, since the Blair days, a cabinet system has been in force.

The cabinet concentrates power in the hands of a few selected councillors who are empowered to take most of the important decisions that affect us all and, in essence, it leaves the rest of our elected councillors as bystanders.

A further erosion of democracy occurred in 2011, when the allocation of government funding for transport schemes was effectively removed from the remit of the Councils and placed in the hands of businessmen appointed by an internal process which seems veiled from the public. In Wiltshire there are just two representatives from each of the Councils on this body which goes by the name of the “Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership”. They are not directly elected to their positions by the people they purport to represent. Some information is available on the web site but there appears to be very little public debate or involvement. Attempts by the public to raise issues at the meetings have been met by the transport sub group with such responses as “no fundamental issues were raised” and “it has already been decided.”

The latest to suffer an erosion of democracy appears to have been Chippenham. . This town has to take major development in the years to 2026. HM Inspector for the Wiltshire Core Strategy was not content with the way growth was being planned and said there would have to be a separate plan for Chippenham.

A second draft plan was produced by Wiltshire Council. The sites were all greenfield areas on the periphery of the town. One site was even in the parish of Bremhill in Calne. In November 2015, a second HM Inspector found the draft Site Allocations Plan to be unsound and listed his reasons. All of this has given rise to questions, including the wisdom of having a number of key portfolios held by the same councillors and how the conflicting interests between these portfolios should be appropriately managed.

So far democracy has been saved by outsiders, through Independent Inspectors and the strenuous efforts of local people who have given up much of their time to contest the draft plans and propose better ideas. However, this does not seem a reliable way to run things. A good system should be better designed and contain its own checks and balances.

Since June 2015, questions have been asked in Council Meetings about a perceived Democratic Deficit. Councils in other parts of England have already dispensed with cabinet and reverted to the committee system of government. This way more councillors are involved and have a voice for the people they represent.

Last year there was the exhibition in the beautiful Chapter House of one of the four original copies of the Magna Carta that is proudly owned by Salisbury Cathedral. Friends of the Cathedral were there to help with questions. Many foreign visitors came to admire our democracy. We need to ensure that it lives on.