OPPOSITION Tories on Warrington Borough Council who voted against a 4.98 % council tax rise, say they were unable to provide an alternative budget, due to lack of openess and transparency by the controlling Labour group.
The Conservative group say they were “dismayed” by the Labour budget, which they say will see even more risk taken with the Council’s finances and the borrowings in Warrington, rising above the £2 billion mark, more than £10,000 for every man, woman and child in Warrington.
They believe the budget presented by Labour was a missed opportunity to alter the “disastrous direction” being taken with the town’s finances.
Cllr Ken Critchley, Conservative Group Finance spokesman said: “Like the captain of the Titanic, Labour are just not listening to the warnings from independent commentators.
“An alternative budget could only be considered if there had been an open and transparent flow of all relevant information; this is not what we experienced. On numerous occasions the information we requested to understand the budget was not forthcoming or blocked from release.
At last night’s budget meeting he said: “Firstly, I would like to thank the Officers of the Council for providing the detailed information that I shall be referring to in this report. It is a great pity that on several occasions the Labour Leadership blocked the provision of information that would have allowed greater scrutiny of this budget.
“Open and transparent I think not.
“Officers worked hard to provide answers to our questions, but the process exposed the fallacy that an alternative budget could credibly be constructed with the same officer team whose attention was focused on the document before you.
“Without full disclosure of all information, an alternative budget is clearly impossible to construct.”
Not only did the Conservative group challenge the borrowing but also the need for the Council tax increase of 4.98%, believing that the Labour administration have missed a golden opportunity to not only reduce the debt from a sale of
the poorly performing property portfolio but to boost the Council’s income from carefully selecting the loans that could be paid off.
After the meeting, Cllr Ken Critchley added:“The Labour leadership are just not listening to the independent voices that are warning of the consequences of the direction being taken, they are ploughing on with a borrowing strategy that the external auditors have warned previously is not affordable, prudent or sustainable.
“This is a financially bankrupt strategy that cannot be supported. The reserves are now being depleted and risk being exhausted in the next few years.
“The budget fails to grasp the opportunities that are available now to reduce the debt burden by an exit strategy from the property portfolio.
“The budget fails to recognise the cost of living crisis by increasing the tax burden on Warrington residents.
“Despite our opposition, Labour and the Liberal Democrats voted to impose the budget on the residents of Warrington.”
Cllr Critchley was responding to Labour’s Deputy Leader, Cllr. Cathy Mitchell, criticising the Tories, for not providing an alternative budget.
Another year with no Tory budget to show how they would fund services with a Council Tax freeze & selling off assets that generate income – as in their May 2021 manifesto. They talk only of money, never about people. They know the cost of everything & the value of nothing. https://t.co/iqfdESoPb7
— Cllr Russ Bowden (@CllrRussBowden) February 28, 2023
Lib Dems explain why they support Labour council’s 4.98% council tax rise
