The Liberal Democrat Group on Warwickshire County Council has voted this evening to support a compromise budget put forward by the minority Conservative administration, after winning major concessions during  a nine hour meeting. This enabled the Council finally to set its four year budget, which was approved by 37 votes to 24.

Earlier in the day, separate budget resolutions from the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrat Groups, and an amendment from the Greens, had all been defeated, meaning that at least two of the main groups would need to reach a compromise before the Council could set its budget. All parties’ proposals were based on a council tax increase of 1.99% a year, and all set out to achieve total savings of £92 million (26%) over a four year period. Where they differed was in the detailed proposals underneath the headline figures.

Cllr Jerry Roodhouse, Lib Dem Group Leader, said:

“It was clear from the outset that Labour was not interested in reaching an agreement with us or the Conservatives. There were many aspects of the Labour budget that we found unacceptable, in particular their plan to close Household Waste Recycling Centres in the places like Kenilworth or Shipston, and the major cut they proposed in highway maintenance.

“We entered the negotiations with the Conservatives with some very clear ‘red line’ issues on the table, and were pleased that we were able to achieve over 90% of our proposals.

“In particular, we have protected school crossing patrols, secured a major new investment of £2.5 million in Safer Routes to School and School Safety Zones, and ensured that there will be no further library closures. We’ve removed any further cuts to children’s centre budgets for at least three years, and also removed a planned first year cut in the Supporting People programme. We’ve won a £1 million investment in energy efficient LED street lighting to accelerate the replacement programme. We’ve achieved greater ongoing capacity for the voluntary sector, and a £50,000 cut in members’ expenses and catering costs.

“Finally, we’ve secured binding commitments to restructure the senior management of the Council in the medium term, and to cut costs of member expenses and catering.

“These are major changes to the budget put forward by the Conservatives, which justified the Lib Dems giving the compromise budget our full support rather than voting against or abstaining. The final budget passed this evening is very different from the one originally put forward by the Conservatives, and much better for the people of Warwickshire.”

Notes:

The main changes between the agreed budget and the original Conservative proposal are:-

• No cuts to the Supporting People Programme in 2014/15, allowing time for full planning and consultation of medium-term changes.
• £2.5 million investment over three years in new Safer Routes to School and 20 mph School Safety Zone schemes, to ensure that children’s safety on their way to and from school is secured by road engineering solutions before cuts in school transport costs are implemented.
• Retention of a £200,000 a year budget to support school crossing supervisors at those locations where children’s safety cannot be achieved by road engineering measures.
• No further cuts to Children’s Centre budgets for at least three years, with a commitment for a full business case before any savings based on the development of multi-agency Family Centres are implemented.
• No further planned library closures, compared with the original Conservative plan to close nine of the remaining seventeen council-run libraries.
• No cuts in support to communities and community organisations in 2014/15, and a £300,000 a year reduction in the long terms savings target for this service.
• A new £1 million investment programme in LED street lighting.
• An agreed timetable for the restructuring of the senior management of the Council in the medium term, with specific savings objectives built in.