FRODSHAM’S borough councillors – Andrew Dawson and Lynn Riley – were two of only three Conservatives who DID NOT stage a walk out when Labour-controlled Cheshire West and Chester Council approved an average 4.14 per cent council tax increase.
The two councillors stayed behind and voted against the Labour budget – which for occupiers of Band D houses in Frodsham will mean a 5.13 per cent rise.
After the three and-a-half hour meeting, Labour and Conservative councillors issued sharply conflicting statements.
Labour claimed the meeting was disrupted by the Tory walk-out which, they claimed, and been done to avoid having to vote on the “challenging budget”
They said the opposition had refused to move an amendment to Labour’s budget despite repeated requests to do so.
But the Conservatives claimed Labour “guillotined” the debate and did not allow the opposition to put their amendment, which had been known for more than a week.
Council leader Samantha Dixon said after the meeting: “What tonight has exposed is a Tory party without the courage of their convictions. The amendment they circulated earlier in the week was a plea to the selfish, instead of looking at the priorities of all of our residents and distributing the finances appropriately.”
Labour blamed “unprecedented cuts” by the government for the steep increases.
But Cllr Dawson said: “CWaC’s budget and council tax setting meeting demonstrated what we had long suspected – Labour councillors on CWaC are deaf to reason and debate – and horrifyingly last night acted to stifle democracy too.”
He claimed the Labour finance spokesman had spent more time talking about the government, the Conservative record when running CWaC between 2007-15 and the Tory proposed alternative budget which would have avoided half of the proposed council tax rise.
He said: “He barely mentioned his own plans. His lacklustre performance perhaps highlights the lack of imagination which so often typifies Labour’s approach. When in doubt reach for a tax rise rather than innovate.”
Cllr Dawson said Conservative finance spokesperson Cllr Eveleigh Moore-Dutton indicated that she would formally table a Conservative alternative budget during the debate. It would have cut the council tax in half.
But Labour councillors voted to guillotine the debate. This led to a mass walkout by the Conservative Group – appalled that they were not going to be allowed to speak on the budget.
Cllr Dawson added: “Lynn and I were two out of only three Conservatives who stayed and voted against the Labour budget.
“We pointed out starkly and clearly that Frodsham is one of six communities in the borough effectively singled out for the highest council tax rises.
“Labour’s wrong-headed decisions and denial of local democracy also has a hand in the council tax rise at Frodsham Town Council – where the removal of new homes bonus monies is partially behind the Town Council’s tax rise.
“What with Labour’s clear choice to milk communities like Frodsham – which is responsible for more than three quarters of our council tax rise – and some poor decision making at Frodsham Town Council, Frodsham residents have been handed the highest council tax rise in the borough at 5.13 per cent. This is at a time when inflation is near zero.
“I pointed out that a quarter of Frodsham’s residents are pensioners and about one third of our adult population is not ‘economically active.’ We also have a high level of disability in Frodsham and a significant area of deprivation.
“Handing Frodsham the highest council tax rise in the borough contributes to increasing our inequality as many people have to pay their bills out of fixed incomes. So much for Labour’s claims that it is trying to reduce inequality.”
See the full debate CLICK HERE
