1. He abolished the committee system which allowed all councillors to be involved in making decisions;
   
2. Plans now seem to be afoot to amalgamate a number of departments within the Council. The most ludicrous appears to be putting Education and Social Work under one director, effectively down-grading both departments;
   
3. Hiving off various parts of the Council to trusts or limited companies which will not therefore be answerable to the Council. As well as Building Services and Community Safety, Culture & Leisure, IT, and Property seem in danger of being moved out of public control.

SNP Group Leader John Mason said, "Taking one of these issues on its own would be bad enough, but when you look at the whole package is strikes me as wanton vandalism. It is like the little boy who throws stones and smashes windows: there is lots of activity, excitement, and noise but the result is only destruction. Similarly, Councillor Purcell can claim to be doing a lot but it is mainly a negative type of activity." Another opposition councillor has compared it to a retreating army laying the country waste as it retreats. With Labour expected to lose a lot of ground in May's Council elections, this may well be an accurate description of what is happening.