Liberal Democrats have described the Conservative budget approved by Warwickshire County Council this afternoon as being “like the proverbial curate’s egg – good in parts”.

Earlier in the day, separate budget proposals by the Tories, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Greens had all been voted down by the Council, in which no one political party has an overall majority.

The revised budget subsequently put forward by the minority Tory administration included a number of the key priorities put forward by the Liberal Democrats, specifically funding for the “Connect Well” social prescribing programme, money to support extra family support workers, and an extra £4 million over two years on the highway maintenance programme.

However, the Conservatives failed to support Liberal Democrat proposals to reduce central overheads, and would not back the strong wording in the Liberal Democrat amendment condemning the Conservative government for Warwickshire’s unfair financial settlement, and calling on the county’s six Conservative MPs to stand up for local residents.

Cllr Jerry Roodhouse (Rugby Eastlands & Hillmorton), Liberal Democrat group leader said afterwards:

“The Tories did just enough to persuade us to abstain on the final vote, allowing their revised budget to go through. Unlike Labour, whose own budget proposals were mostly about playing party politics, Liberal Democrat councillors are here to pursue our priorities and get them put into practice.

“At the end of the day, though, this Conservative budget means only one thing for the people of Warwickshire – More Taxes for Fewer Services.”

Ahead of Warwickshire County Council’s budget meeting on Thursday, the Liberal Democrat group has reacted with incredulity to the Labour proposals published yesterday.

Against a background of swingeing central government cuts to its revenue support grant to the County Council, which will necessitate a complete re-appraisal of the current 4-year savings plan during the course of 2016/17, this was the year for political groups on the Council to concentrate on a few essential priorities to fine-tune the plans already in train.

Instead, the Labour group has done the opposite. It is proposing a myriad of budget changes, many of them quite small, but collectively adding up to quite a lot. No explanations have been offered as to the justification of the changes, or their possible impact.

Liberal Democrats believe it is the role of elected members to set the overall strategic direction and key priorities for the County Council, not to attempt to “micro manage” the work of highly-paid county officers as Labour is seeking to do.

A few old Labour chestnuts have re-appeared, for example a proposal to put back £250,000 into the street lighting budget to “reverse the part-night operation of street lights for those communities that want it”. There is no evidence that this is needed or wanted, and the practicalities of finding out what communities might “want” are not addressed.

There is also a further saving of £154,000 in waste management, rising to £254,000 in 2017/18, with again no explanation or impact. However, since Labour have proposed in the past that household waste recycling centres in Kenilworth, Shipston-on-Stour, Stockton and Wellesbourne should be closed, presumably these are in Labour’s firing line again.

Cllr Jerry Roodhouse (Rugby Eastlands & Hillmorton), Liberal Democrat group leader, said:

“Thankfully I see very little chance of these Labour budget proposals being supported by any of the other political groups. Perhaps this is what they want?

“Labour has no plan and is looking to play party politics, with no vision for Warwickshire. At least the Liberal Democrats are keeping to our priorities, putting families first along with ensuring roads get mended and pot holes get filled. The Conservatives are giving more taxes for fewer services.”

ENDS

Liberal Democrats deplore the action of the Conservative government in cutting its revenue support grant funding of Warwickshire County Council by 33% next year, while placing an increasing share of the financial burden on local council taxpayers especially those on fixed incomes.

This is a kick in the teeth for the Conservative-led council which has already cut services by £30 million over the last two years. Lib Dem county leader, Jerry Roodhouse (Rugby Eastlands & Hillmorton) wrote an open letter to all six of Warwickshire’s Conservative MPs on 17^th January, asking them to put pressure on their government to change its mind. To date not one of them has replied, nor even spoken out against this bad settlement for Warwickshire.

Against this difficult background, on Thursday 4^th February the County Council will meet to set its budget for the 2016/17 financial year.

The Conservative administration was already planning to cut services by a further £16 million next year, affecting many front-line services. Now, by the actions of the government, a further £5 million of savings is required even with council tax being raised by 3.99%. Conservative rule at Westminster and Shire Hall is bringing more taxes for fewer services!

Liberal Democrat budget priorities for 2016/17 are building on our previous campaigns of focusing scarce resources on children and young people, giving them the best possible start in life so they can fulfil their potential, while safeguarding the most vulnerable and needy regardless of where they live in the county.

The Conservative administration’s draft budget fails to protect highway maintenance spending at a level that will stop the condition of the highway network deteriorating over coming years. Liberal Democrats believe that a good highway network is vital to the economic prosperity of the county, and want to invest additional capital funding of £4 million over two years into the highway maintenance programme.

The Liberal Democrats will continue pressing for more radical cuts in central management overheads in order to help protect front-line services, including a slimmed-down Cabinet structure and freezing councillors’ allowances.

Cllr Jerry Roodhouse said:

“The Liberal Democrat Group will be tabling amendments on Thursday to the Conservatives’ proposals, seeking to secure the agreement of other political groups to our budget priorities. Within such a tight financial situation, we are clear where limited investment is needed, and how this can be paid for.

“Let no-one be in any doubt, however. Warwickshire has been dealt a very bad hand by this Conservative government, and the Conservative county leadership has proved powerless to do anything about it. No matter what happens on Thursday, the people of Warwickshire will be getting ‘More Taxes for Fewer Services’.”

ENDS

Notes:

An example of the areas where the Liberal Democrats want to focus additional resources is the ConnectWELL social prescribing project, which has been piloted in the Rugby area during 2015.

Details of the project can be found at: http://warkslibdems.mycouncillor.org.uk/connectwell/

http://warkslibdems.mycouncillor.org.uk/connectwell/case-study-a/

http://warkslibdems.mycouncillor.org.uk/connectwell/case-study-b/

The Liberal Democrat group on the County Council has today put forward proposals with potentially far-reaching consequences for the future of local government in Warwickshire. They have called for an extraordinary meeting of the Council, to be held on the 23^rd February.

The first Lib Dem motion calls for the County Council to re-visit the question of joining the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), which it declined to do last September. The Lib Dems believe that joining the WCMA as a constituent member in the second phase, potentially towards the end of 2016, is now the best option facing the County Council, and that work should start immediately to define the list of priorities to be taken into a future negotiation process.

Cllr John Whitehouse (Lib Dem, Kenilworth Abbey), who chairs the all-party Devolution Working Group at the County Council, says:

“Lib Dems voted not to join the first phase of the new WMCA last September because we had very few hard facts to go on at the time, and the advantages for Warwickshire were not obvious. However with the strong support that the WMCA has now received from Government, and with the geographical and regional rationale on which the WMCA is based, it is clear that Warwickshire could fit inside the new combined authority as a strong and equal partner to its other constituent members.

“With Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council having already decided to join the WMCA as a non-constituent member, and Stratford District Council likely to follow suit this week, the County Council needs to decide its future direction without further delay. The Lib Dems believe that the Conservative leadership of the County has been dragging its feet on this vital issue, and the time for action is now.”

The second motion expresses Lib Dem frustration at the lack of action by the Conservative administration, following a Council decision nearly two years ago to explore opportunities for unitary local government in Warwickshire in place of the current “two tier” system of county council and district/borough councils. It calls for work to start now to define what the best system should be for the future.

Cllr Jerry Roodhouse (Lib Dem, Rugby Eastlands & Hillmorton), leader of the County Liberal Democrat Group, says:

“The financial pressures on local government are huge, and can only get worse. Residents are facing many millions of pounds worth of cuts, while at the same time Council Tax will keep increasing year on year. The Conservative leadership of the County Council has failed to address the unitary question over the last two years, despite a clear Council mandate to do so.

“The County Group of Liberal Democrats has long believed that unitary local government is the best model for Warwickshire, with opportunities to devolve more powers and decision making to local level, for example to town and parish councils, while realising efficiencies through elimination of costly duplication of resources.

“The Government has given a clear green light to Councils coming forward with soundly-based proposals for unitary local government in current two-tier areas. There are no longer any excuses for further procrastination on the part of the Conservative leadership.

“With both of the motions that we are putting forward today, the Liberal Democrats are saying clearly that it’s time for Warwickshire to face the future.”

Open Letter to Warwickshire MPs

17 January 2016

Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement.

I am writing to you on behalf of the Warwickshire County Council Liberal Democrat Group to express our deep disappointment over this year’s central government finance settlement for the County Council, and the loss of funding that will now seriously reduce local services and at the same time increase the pressure on the taxpayers of Warwickshire. You will be aware that the County Council has being working hard on efficiencies and has delivered savings of £98 million since 2010, therefore meeting the challenge of funding reductions at the same time as rising demand.

The Conservative Government’s response has been seen in this year’s Local Government Finance Settlement, which it has cut dramatically without recognising the needs of our growing population, particularly in adult social care and children’s services. The impact of this will now require additional cuts to be made in services and at the same time Council Tax will have to go up. More Taxes for fewer Services.

The Government stated that the changes announced in the provisional settlement were made to address the particular pressures experienced by councils which provide adult social care and children’s services. And yet Warwickshire CC where some of these pressures are greatest and are forecast to increase, is now faced with a reduction of 33% in its Revenue Support Grant (RSG) funding between 2015/16 and 2016/17.

Even without the provisional Settlement, Warwickshire CC was already planning to make £17 million of savings next year, including cuts to front-line services. By the actions of your Government the County Council is now faced with finding a further £9 million of spending reductions, whilst at the same time raising council tax by 4%.

As a Warwickshire MP representing citizens of the Warwickshire we ask – is this fair? And we call on you to put pressure on your Conservative Government to reconsider the proposals in the provisional Settlement.

Yours

Cllr Jerry Roodhouse

Warwickshire Liberal Democrat Group

Interviewed on local radio this morning, Warwickshire Lib Dem county councillor John Whitehouse (Kenilworth Abbey) called on the Conservative leader of the council to “get on with it” over Combined Authority proposals.

On Thursday the council backed a Lib Dem-amended motion to ensure that the door was left open to any improved proposals put forward by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), while the council explored all other options available for Warwickshire. This defeated a Labour attempt to reinstate the WCMA proposal rejected by the council three weeks earlier, with members of all the other parties continuing to believe that this proposal was unacceptable in its current form.

Cllr Whitehouse repeated his call made in the council meeting for the agreed Member Working Group to be set up and meet as soon as possible, expressing his frustration that more than three weeks had passed without action.

He also called for an end to the secret meetings between council leaders which have characterised the debate about combined authorities over several months, with most elected members and the general public having been kept largely in the dark about the detailed proposals.

This secrecy was blown apart yesterday by the publication by a local Coventry newspaper of a leaked copy of the WCMA’s Draft West Midlands Agreement being proposed to central government.

Cllr Jerry Roodhouse (Rugby Eastlands & Hillmorton), Lib Dem Group leader, said: “Any excuses for secrecy have now gone. Lib Dems are calling for an open, informed debate about what solution best meets the needs of Warwickshire, and involving Warwickshire residents as fully as possible in making this vital decision about all our futures.”

At an Extraordinary Meeting of Warwickshire County Council today, councillors from the Liberal Democrat, Conservative, Green and Independent Groups united in support of combined Lib Dem/Tory recommendations:

• Not to enter into the West Midlands Combined Authority as proposed;
• Continuing to pursue a Coventry – Warwickshire alternative solution;
• Looking at all other possible devolution models for Warwickshire;
• Pledging open and transparent debate and the widest possible consultation with residents before any final decisions are taken.

Earlier the Council had rejected a Labour amendment proposing that Warwickshire should agree to the West Midlands Combined Authority immediately.

A cross-party working group of councillors has been established to carry out the decisions taken today, and to report back to Full Council.

Cllr Jerry Roodhouse, Lib Dem Group leader, said:

“The Council was right today to reject this ‘take it or leave it’ offer from the seven West Midlands metropolitan authorities, even after a last-minute revised offer made public today which suggested that the six local authorities in Warwickshire could somehow share one voting place on the Combined Authority.

“We do not accept that we face a ‘now or never’ situation. Our roles as elected councillors is to represent the best interests of Warwickshire residents, and right now it is totally unclear what benefits to the County would accrue, while the risks and dis-benefits are obvious. How will this new layer of regional bureaucracy be paid for? The Treasury is demanding fiscal neutrality, so what would have to go in order to pay for it?

“Too much of this has involved discussions in secret up until now. Following today’s debate, the Lib Dems intend to play an active role in finding the best solutions for Warwickshire, and making certain that residents are properly informed and consulted at all stages up to any final decisions being taken.”

Ahead of an Extraordinary Meeting of Warwickshire County Council this Thursday to decide whether or not the authority should seek to enter into the proposed West Midlands Combined Authority, the Liberal Democrat group on the council has been canvassing views from across the districts and boroughs and from colleagues in Coventry. Lib Dem members from around Warwickshire gathered at Shire Hall on Friday to discuss the proposals.

Lib Dems believe that the “take it or leave it” offer from the seven metropolitan West Midlands councils, to join a Combined Authority as a non-voting member, is unacceptable in its current form. They continue to believe that a Coventry & Warwickshire combined authority would provide the best solution to provide a strong economic base for growth for the county.

Cllr Jerry Roodhouse, Lib Dem Group Leader, said:

“It is very unclear what Warwickshire would gain from joining a Combined Authority of metropolitan councils stretching from Coventry to the Black Country. This county already performs better than all but one of the other councils across a wide range of economic indicators – e.g. skills, unemployment levels and gross value added per head.

“We’re being asked to pay into creating a new layer of regional bureaucracy and cost to local taxpayers, but with no vote on how pooled budgets might be prioritised and spent. We’re concerned that our full Local Transport budget would be lost, with a big question mark about services such as Fire & Rescue and Police. Might it mean a single Police & Crime Commissioner for the whole of an enlarged West Midlands region, or might we face rule by a metropolitan mayor?”

Lib Dems also want to see much more information on financial and economic benefits and dis-benefits of such a “super council” made available, and proper consultation with the citizens of Warwickshire, before any such momentous decisions are made. They are highly critical of Conservative and Labour leaders of all the councils concerned for conducting negotiations largely in secret, and failing to spell out to their local residents the nature and impacts of the proposals under discussion.

Note:

The papers for the Extraordinary Meeting are at:-

https://democratic.warwickshire.gov.uk/cmis5/CalendarofMeetings/tabid/128/ctl/ViewMeetingPublic/mid/645/Meeting/3562/Committee/457/Default.aspx