Tory County Council's Shameful Record of Failure Exposed

A shocking record of failure by the former Conservative County Council was revealed at a meeting of Bedford Borough Council's Cabinet on Wednesday night. During a meeting dominated by the impact of the damaging legacy inherited from the high-taxing Tory-run authority, serious failings were exposed in key areas such as safeguarding vulnerable adults from abuse, adult care, budgeting, education and waste management.

The dramatic meeting, which saw the collapse of local Tories' plans for an environmentally damaging incinerator, also featured a display of Conservative in-fighting. In response to a comment that nobody knew things would be quite as bad as they were when the County Council ceased to exist on April 1st this year, the Conservative Group Leader on Bedford Borough Council admitted that she did and that she 'knew it would be bad.' She also likened the Borough Council taking on responsibilities from her Conservative colleagues to opening a 'Pandora's Box.'

The catalogue of Conservative failure revealed at the meeting on Wednesday night included:

• Shocking details lay behind the critical report of the social care watchdog into the safeguarding of vulnerable adults in Bedfordshire, for example the fact that no record had been made of the outcome of almost 800 allegations of abuse

• Due to their poor quality, adult social care services were facing the prospect of emergency government intervention by the time of the demise of the Tory County Council

• Projected potential costs for the Conservative County Council's project to build a giant incinerator to burn the County's waste, which had been beset by problems including the failure to secure the use of its favoured site, had increased by over a third of a billion pounds to far in excess of £1 billion. The scheme was thrown out by the Borough Council Cabinet at the meeting, after a debate held in private thanks to the efforts of the Conservatives in voting to exclude the press and public

• The Local Government Ombudsman delivered a finding of maladministration against the County Council regarding its policy on restricting home tuition, which caused a child to miss out on four terms of specialist education.

• Inadequate financial information was provided by the former County Council, causing significant shortfalls against the approved Council budget for this year.

Commenting on the issue, Bedford Borough Liberal Democrat Group Leader and Cabinet Member Cllr Dave Hodgson said: "It was obvious to all local residents that the Conservative County Council provided poor services while council tax rates spiralled, but to hear the full extent of its failings in certain areas is still shocking. In particular, the standard of care offered to the most vulnerable people in our community was totally unacceptable and should be a source of shame to the Conservative administration which led the County Council."