Labour Councillors Question

if Budget Focused on Correct Priorities

Labour Councillors welcome any genuine consultation on the Budget, and that there is apparently
a little more money than the Councils finance people thought - but a consultation with a shopping
list attached makes it sound as if the Mayor has already made his mind up.
Labour Leader, Cllr Helen Holland said, We are glad to see that the argument we made last year
that the Mayor should fully fund the Council Tax Reduction scheme, has been taken on board, and
that particular help to the poorest has not been threatened again, but what has happened to
other areas given protection by Labours amendments to this years Budget in February? We keep
being told these have been supported, but anecdotal evidence suggests otherwise.
If there is some spare cash, then the Mayor must look again at vital services like Childrens
Centres, Parks, Pest Control, the Hardship Fund, before committing funds to his pet projects.
Local Authorities have borne the brunt of the Coalition Governments cuts, and some services are
close to collapse, with budget reductions and staff redundancies. These are the areas that
residents want to see protected first.