Government proposals requiring England's eleven largest city councils to impose 'shadow mayors' have been scrapped from the Localism Bill.
Under the controversial plans, shadow mayors were to have been appointed in cities such as Liverpool, Newcastle and Bradford in advance of local referendums to decide if council leaders should become executive mayors.
During the Bill's committee stage at the House of Lords yesterday, local government minister Baroness Hanham said the government would accept a series of amendments to'build on the common ground and consensus that the Bill has enjoyed.'
Baroness Hanham insisted that although the concepts of mayors serving as chief executives and shadow mayors had been deleted from the Bill, councils remain free to follow the lead set by Leicester City Council in axing the post of chief executive and choosing a city mayor.
A referendum on elected mayors will still be held on 3 May next year in Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Coventry, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle Nottingham, Leeds, Sheffield and Wakefield.
Shadow local government secretary Caroline Flint said:'This is a victory for Labour's campaign against the Tory-led Government's undemocratic and costly plans to impose shadow mayors on England's largest cities and their half baked idea of combining the roles of mayor and chief executive.
'Following his climbdown on bin collections a few days ago, this is the second major personal humiliation for Eric Pickles in the space of a week.'
