A ROW has erupted over the leader of the city council being given a top cabinet post at Worcestershire County Council.

Councillor Simon Geraghty became boss of the Tory-run city council one year ago.

But there was opposition from some county councillors who felt he was unsuitable for the role due to his commitments on the city council.

It was remarked how Mr Geraghty had appointed a deputy leader of the city council, Barry Mackenzie-Williams, to help him with his duties.

Councillor Jo Hodges, Labour, asked if he needed an assistant so badly why had he taken on another job.

Labour councillor John Buckley said he believed it would be difficult for him to do both city and county jobs and there may be a conflict of interests.

However, a vote was held on his appointment to the cabinet. Twenty-eight were in favour and 27 against.

Mr Geraghty is now cabinet member for planning, economy and performance. He will receive £15,360 for the role, on top of his £13,212 salary as leader of the city council.

It will not mean a rise in salary for him though - Councillor Geraghty was already receiving £15,360 from County Hall for chairing the health and overview scrutiny panel, which he has now dropped. The cabinet post will mean Mr Geraghty will be responsible for regeneration projects across Worcestershire.

It is thought to be the first time the serving leader of Worcester City Council has been appointed into the cabinet at County Hall.

Mr Geraghty said: "It does mean a lot of work potentially, but I'm doing a lot of important work already anyway. The health service is a very diverse sector and when I was involved with scrutiny a lot went on outside our monthly meetings.

"I will have to manage my time effectively and it will be challenging, but it is an exciting prospect for me.

"Urban renaissance is a key theme at the city council and the cabinet role is about boosting the economy across the county."

Council leader George Lord said: "We offered it to Simon because he's familiar with the economic development of the county, and familiar with the University of Worcester library project for the city.

"He's also familiar with the Regional Spatial Strategy and the proposed number of homes that could be built in Worcestershire. One of the things we discussed was the workload with him being leader of the city council, but he felt he could do it."