Croydon council leader Tony Newman has denied that woman are under-represented in leadership positions on council committees.

Of the nine main committees on the council, only one has a female chair – New Addington South councillor Louisa Woodley was named chairwoman of the Health and Wellbeing board this week.

Cllr Newman argued that the gender balance evened out when taking into account deputy committee chairs and cabinet members.

In the 2018-22 cabinet five of the 10 positions have been filled by women.

“If we look at our cabinet it is gender balanced,” said Cllr Newman.

“There is a strong representation in terms of gender balance and there is good representation of BME (black and minority ethnic) councillors.

“It looks like a Labour group that represents Croydon – We are not quite 50/50 yet but it is a story of progress.”

All councillors are entitled to about £11,000 as a basic allowance. If they are also the chair of a committee councillors will receive a special allowance of between £10,000-£12,500.

But the chair of the Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Sean Fitzsimons will receive £24,000.

Being a member of cabinet will earn any councillors an extra £32,100. Committee chairs for 2018-22 were voted on at a full council meeting on Wednesday, May 23.

The full list is as follows: Appointments Committee – Tony Newman General Purpose and Audit Committee – Stephen Mann Licensing Committee – Chris Clark Pension Committee – Andrew Pelling Planning Committee – Paul Scott Scrutiny and Overview Committee – Sean Fitzsimons Ethics Committee – Clive Fraser Traffic Management Advisory Committee – Stuart King Health and Wellbeing Board – Louisa Woodley