The ruling Labour group on Coventry City Council has suffered a shock defeat in the first meeting of a new committee to scrutinise the cabinet’s decisions.

Not enough Labour members turned up for the first meeting of the Scrutiny Committee, which is held to examine the decisions of cabinet members and the cabinet.

Each of the three different committees are weighted to represent the political balance of the full council.

Today’s meeting should have had eight Labour members, five Conservatives and a Socialist.

But three Labour members – Cllrs Dave Batten, Frank Carter and Sheila Collins – did not appear, allowing the Conservatives to force a review of the council’s management structure.

The committee had been asked to approve a measure redistributing responsibilities of the Strategic Director (Living Environment), Howard Farrand.

Mr Farrand will leave the council later this year when the council’s entire housing stock is transferred to a private company and he takes up a post with the new firm, Whitefriars.

As much of his current role will depart with him, councillors were told it would be sensible to abolish his post and redistribute his responsibility among the remaining five Strategic Directors.

But Tim Sawdon (Conservative, Wainbody) insisted that review of the roles of the Strategic Directors should be held, to check they were working as efficiently as possible.

Despite the opposition of the Labour members, the motion was passed, and the cabinet will be forced to reconsider the issue.

It is an embarrassment for Labour that the first vote taken at a Scrutiny Committee under the new arrangements was lost.

And two of the three cabinet members summonsed to appear before today’s meeting, which is similar in format to a parliamentary committee, were also blasted for failing to turn up.

Cllr Sawdon said:

“This meeting has already been treated with utter contempt. These two members would known by this stage last week that they weren’t going to be here. Surely it was not beyond the wit of mankind to rearrange the meeting.”

Committee chair Arthur Waugh (Labour, Westwood), said council leader Nick Nolan had booked a holiday long before the new system had started, and could be excused.

But he said cabinet member (Environmental Services) John McNicholas should have re-arranged a meeting in Birmingham, which clashed with the council meeting.

Cllr Waugh said:

“The only excuse is hospitalisation as far as I’m concerned.”