Conservatives play fast and loose with public money

Last night at a meeting of Full Council, the Liberal Democrats voted down a Conservative amendment that would've resulted in masses of cuts to vital public services next year. Some of the services that have been cut by other Conservative-run councils due to financial mismanagement have been libraries, sports facilities and children's centres.

In response, Portfolio Holder for Finance Councillor Michael Headley said "This proposal would take £2 million a year out of providing vital services for residents in future years. That's an extra £2 million of cuts that will need to be made. What are your plans? Where are you going to make those extra cuts next year? The money you use this year will be gone and the funding gap will have grown. You should be honest with local people that you are proposing an extra £2 million of cuts to vital services next year. What will it be - Our libraries? Our highways work? Children's centres? Adult social care? Where are you proposing the cuts?"

Since Mayor Dave was elected in 2009, he has delivered the third lowest rise in Council Tax of all unitary authorities. Before this the Conservatives raised Council Tax by more than 20% over just two years during their control of the County Council, far exceeding inflation at the time. Bedford Borough Council also offers a 100% Council Tax Reduction Scheme for low income households, a support programme very few local authorities provide.

Councillor Headley continued "The year ahead is full of funding uncertainties. We know that a new funding formula is coming. We know that the funding pot is fixed. That means for every area that is "Levelled Up", other areas will be levelled down. We would expect areas like Bedford Borough to be losers in this recalculation."

Councillor Headley then provided an example of a local authority that had gone ahead with what the Conservatives were proposing: the now abolished Northamptonshire County Council. Quoting several lines from an article in Northamptonshire Live, Councillor Headley said "'Northamptonshire County Council boasted about having one of the lowest council tax rates of the Shire counties, at the same time as local government budgets were being slashed'. '…From 2013 to 2018, the Council used one-off resources to prop up its accounts'. They have been forced to make severe cuts to services including '…closing libraries and ending subsidies for bus services'. '…The most tragic problem has been their struggling children's social care services, which failed Ofsted inspections in 2018 and 2019'. This is the story of a council who took opportunistic one-off financing tricks rather than securing the financial stability of the council and the vital services that people rely upon.

"If the Conservatives truly cared about supporting residents in a cost of living crisis, they should lobby their government to stop raising taxes on working people. The proposed rise in National Insurance will be falling on hard-pressed local residents and this increase dwarfs the below inflation increase in Council Tax that we have proposed.

"I suggest that local residents can see through this party political, one-off point scoring. They can see our record since 2009 in running an efficient council that keeps tax down and protects vital frontline services. You cannot run a council by muddling through one year at a time just balancing the books for this instant - that is the road to disaster. By planning ahead, we have been able to protect vital frontline services and keep council tax rises to some of the lowest unitary councils in the country. We are not going to throw away those benefits now - benefits to local residents and local taxpayers. And we are not going to support an extra £2 million of cuts next year."