A Teignbridge town council has delegated decision making powers for matters including planning and finance issues to its committees.

The devolved powers will mean that decisions can be made by selected councillors on committees rather than referred back for ratification by the full council.

Teignmouth Town Council voted to adopt the amended terms of reference for its assets and facilities, planning and finance committees at its meeting on Tuesday (May 27).

The move means that actions agreed in these committees will no longer need to be rubber stamped at a full town council meeting.

Mayor councillor Cate Williams explained that the move would give the council a ‘much more streamlined process to get things done’ arguing that the need to refer decisions back to full council was ‘too time-consuming’.

Not all councillors were in agreement with the move.

Councillor Vanda Rudge raised concerns that binding decisions could be made by a small group of councillors without being challenged.

Earlier this year, Teignmouth Town Council came under fire after its events committee proposed pulling support for the annual Teignmouth and Shaldon bonfire and fireworks display. However, after Shaldon Parish Council urged Teignmouth to reconsider, Teignmouth agreed to continue with support for 2025. The town council events committee terms of reference were not discussed at Tuesday’s meeting.

Councillor David Cox was also critical of the move to devolve decision making powers to committees. ‘Giving powers to committees that meet before 6pm will exclude working class councillors or those with caring responsibilities,’ he said. ‘We’re democratically elected and we’re giving away our powers so a small minority will make decisions,’ he added.

However councillor Joan Atkins argued that councillors are not excluded. ‘Any councillor can come to any meeting and can ask the chair to speak,’ she said.