MUCH has been made in this newspaper of the concern felt by a number of people in the Bolton area about the closed sessions of the council's influential "cabinet".

Immediately the BEN became aware of the plan to hold these important meetings of the new-style ruling group in secret, we began campaigning for more openness.

Today, we are pleased to report that these meetings go public for the first time on Monday.

Last month, the council's ruling Labour group admitted that the credibility of the new system, introduced in May this year, was being undermined by perceptions of secrecy.

Cllr Michael Kilcoyne, the executive member in charge of this modernisation, has admitted that the issue was becomng too dominant and needed sorting.

He has stated publicly, in this newspaper, that there was no conspiracy to keep local citizens less informed than they had been. He pointed to the lack of actual decision-making in such closed meetings and assured of no threat to democracy.

Democracy, though, is a fragile thing. Tinker with its detail and you risk losing its effectiveness. In our opinion, that was certainly a danger with the "cabinet".

Ten councillors meeting behind closed doors with no widely available paperwork to reflect the topics they cover, and with scant minutes released days later was always going to result in suspicion.

Opposition councillors were excluded along with the Press in what was never a politically healthy situation.

When you are administering a town the size of Bolton, no one reasonably expects every single matter to be in the public domain. There are still areas where confidentiality is necessary, and this is acknowledged.

But local government is at the practical heart of democracy, and it must be seen to be fair. The Labour group is right to alter its meetings and its approach to make matters look better.

We trust that this more open approach will be reflected through its other meetings and decision-making. The public is fully entitled to expect this.