Lancaster City Council’s Labour Group has revealed it is making a last minute attempt to set a budget that it says will be fair to the whole district and which it hopes will heal the Morecambe-Lancaster divide that has emerged in current debates.
Labour Group leader Councillor Eileen Blamire said that they would announce their plans at the budget Council meeting on Wednesday, which has to agree £1.7 million in cost saving that currently include rural toilet closures, cuts in funding for The Dukes and Citizens Advice (see news story)
“We have listened carefully to public opinion on such matters as the proposed closure of public toilets, cuts to the Duke’s Theatre, support for festivals, and reductions for the two Citizens Advice Bureaux,” says Eileen, who is a supporter of the cash-guzzling Northern Bypass which will cost tax payers over £120 million and acheive no lasting benefit to local transport woes. “Our plans seek to unite the whole district and do not play off Lancaster against Morecambe or vice-versa.”
She added that the time was now right to heal wounds, not deepen them — but then proceeded to lambast other political groups on the Council.
Councillor Blamire believes that Labour is in the strongest position to speak for the whole district following the shock resignation four weeks ago of council leader Roger Mace, maintaining that this had left the Tory group “rudderless”, while the Morecambe Bay Independents are “vindictive” towards Lancaster, and the Greens are championing “unworkable” solutions.
New council leader Abbot Bryning — who voted for some of the proposed cuts in services at Cabinet and is due to be hauled up before the Overview and Scrutiny Committee today over proposed toilet closures — will unveil the details at Wednesday’s council meeting at what is expected to be a stormy and protracted debate, with standing orders suspended to allow councillors longer time to speak on particular issues.
This report is high on political rhetoric and somewhat short on financial detail – Given the task that we faced when Tory leader Roger Mace resigned and the fact that senior officers and other party’s have worked together with Labour to find any budget at all that balanced, for them to try and take credit for getting us out of the mess we were in and setting a budget that will be “fair to the whole district” smacks of a serious case of playing politics with public services in the district.
Far from ‘championing unworkable solutions’ the Green party cabinet members have worked hard to bring forward realistic savings from their portfolios which other cabinet members have struggled to do. Without co-operation between groups on the council this year’s budget could end up far worse than it is now. If the Labour party is expecting a stormy budget meeting tomorrow – it looks like it could well be a storm of their own making.
Cllr Chris Coates
Green Group Leader
The Conservative Group is pleased to note from today’s Labour Group press release, the way in which the Labour Group has adopted Conservative aims. Cllr. Blamire could have worded her statement to say “Our plans, like those pursued by the Conservative Group, seek to unite the whole district and do not play off Lancaster against Morecambe or vice-versa.”
Setting a budget that will be fair to the whole district and which will heal the Morecambe-Lancaster divide that has emerged in current debates has long been the Conservative Group’s objective.
The Tory Group is not “rudderless” as the Labour Press Release states, for I have not resigned as Leader of the Conservative Group, only as Leader of the Council.
If the Council is now “rudderless”, it can only be my Labour successor as Council Leader, who is to blame. Far from being “rudderless”, the Conservative Group has clear views on how the City’s Budget should be structured in present circumstances. I will set out these views in Council on Wednesday.
Cllr. Roger Mace
I note with interest the indignation that Councillor Coates greets the idea of a political party trying to take the credit for something it may or may not have done. It is after all the MO of his own party on all too many occasions to press release the beginning of a protest campaign before having lost the debate in the council chamber. It is to the utter shame of all local officials (elected and otherwise) that they seem to have done this year’s budget on the back of a fag packet on the bus on their way to the meeting. To be still wrangling over a budget in March when the hard pressed people of the whole district are expecting their bills smacks of total incompetence. If it were done in any business anywhere in the world, let alone the ones in our district, then the finance director would expect the get the sack. Moreover, it is bordering on madness to try a set savings by telling every portfolio holder that they should cut by the same amount, with no regard to prioritising. It’s also all well and good for Councillor Mace (whom I have great deal of respect for ordinarily) to pontificate about his original budget. But it’s too late for the cut and run conservatives to try and take credit now having walked away when the going got tough. All the tax payers of this district can hope for, I suppose, is that at tomorrow’s meeting all members of each political group including the MBI party turn up to the council chamber remembering that they work for us and it’s our money they’re spending.
This years Council Tax rise is a folly and the whole process will make Lancaster City Council a laughing stock. How dare our elected representatives impose such a large increase upon hard working people.
As a Morecambe resident I am dismayed that I will incur an extra cost for this Morecambe Town Council. I was never consulted about this and so were many other people. Apparently 2000 were approached by a leading Council and asked to sign the petition under the premisis that they would not see any increase on thier Council Tax Bill. Well the people of Morecambe face an increase on thier Council Tax Bills and part of that increase is for the New Town Council. In fareness to the Councillor in question-she might have been badly advised by officers, even so she now needs to publicly apologise to the people of Morecambe.
I am currently a bit confused in regard to the budget and the implications for this years Council Tax. AS a Morecambe resident I am failing to understand as to why I am being asked to pay a little bit extra on my Council Tax for some new intiative called a Town Council.
I was never asked if I wanted to see another layer of bueaucracy withing the District. I am angry that it is the people of Morecambe who have lost out in this years Council Tax precept. Those Councillors who waisted time debating for six hours should hang thier heads in shame. There was not a single debate about how to help low paid workers strugling to make end meets due to the increase in utility bills.
I would have thought that more of an effort could have been generated in keeping the Council Tax static–that also goes for the County Council and Police Authority.