· As we said at the last meeting when we agreed our objection the budget should be reconsidered by the Mayor and her Cabinet. The reasons we expressed were contained within the Labour Groups written statement and within the comments made by members of my Group. Unfortunately, the Conservative Cabinet and their Group left the meeting so they were not available to answer the remaining questions as part of the Budget and Policy Framework process as laid down in the Council’s Constitution. We were expecting the response from the Cabinet as a result of their considerations at the special cabinet meeting held yesterday. We have become accustomed to being ignored and it clearly reflects badly on the Mayor when you reflect on her early comments in a 2009 edition of the widening horizons where she is quoted as saying –
“I will be a Mayor for the many, not for the few. That means understanding and addressing everyone’s concerns and developing a closer working relationship with other political parties and their councillors.”
Widening Horizons, 2009
We expected very little consideration of what we have outlined as our concerns and views on how the budget proposals will impact a great many residents of all ages and in particular where there are budget items that are not very clear in how they will be delivered or even implemented quickly enough to enable them to be achieved. There are serious risks contained within the Mayor and her Cabinet’s proposals, and a lot of uncertainty amongst the individual Cabinet members who appear to be unable to explain or present their proposals to enable a simple understanding of what the real measures and targets are.
CEI – the Labour Group knows that the proposal to place the responsibility of finding the £20m shortfall onto the CEI programme, is simply passing the problem to one side, with no clear intent or plan to start managing the problem at an early stage demonstrates a lack of acceptance of political leadership and responsibility.
We have seen in the Mayor and Cabinet proposals a twelve month Budget along with a two year financial plan that shows an £20m gap in the council’s budget in the second year of the financial plan!!
The Cabinet have not planned or highlighted the financial plight that is fast approaching. The problem is a combination of a reduction in funding and also the pressure of the demand on council resources. To allow this situation to happen without any preparation is not the way to run a business and any business would be implementing mitigation plans well in advance to avoid a financial crisis. A financial Black Hole!!
The Labour Group believes, that in pursuing the issue of the massive central government cuts through cost cutting without regard to a council plan for the next five years places the Cabinets many miles away from the needs of the people of North Tyneside.
For example we are concerned with
· Massive Outsourcing and the consequential loss of control of vital council services, and leaving the council exposed to private company changes.
· We believe there should be a root and branch review to ensure the remaining council services and support services accurately reflect the new role required for a modern council.
· The use of the consultants is costing £1.45m in 2012/13 so far. We believe that a fundamental review of the need for such a large element of consultancy reflects badly on the knowledge and the experience of the Council’s own workforce. This should be reviewed and consultants only used where there is a demonstrable and short term need for external expertise.
· We believe that a fundamental review for a large requirement of agency staff could be better handled by a programme of retraining and redeploying existing staff. Service areas that are finding difficulty to recruit should be reviewed to determine why there is a large turnover in those service areas.
· A modern council should not be reliant on increasing fees and charges to generate income. We believe that the increases are having a detrimental impact on individual in the highest need areas and also those residents that are just above the benefits level, are amongst the most detrimentally impacted by these actions. The threatened closure of libraries included within the cabinets budget just adds to their problems.
· The Welfare Reforms will have a detrimental effect on the most vulnerable residents in our borough. We believe the cuts in support services will add to the pressure on these individuals and should be reviewed and action plans put in place to address some of the individual cases.
· The transfer of Public Health responsibilities to the Council should have been used to increase the Council’s contribution to the overall health and well-being of the residents of our borough. The use of the additional grant to support existing services should be reviewed to allow those intended additional services to be provided.
· We are concerned that the capital plan, again, does not reflect the greater need of the borough. The capital plan is closely linked to the borrowing and investment strategy and this is an area that needs urgent review and control. The spiralling capital financing requirement, (which is debt), is continuing to grow and there are no obvious plans to reduce the amount which will stand at over £603m at 31 March 2014.
We call upon the incoming Cabinet, after the Mayoral election, to immediately start the process to readdress the budget to reflect the needs of the residents of North Tyneside and to formulate medium and long term financial policies and plans to address the oncoming financial blackhole.
Under Linda Arkley, North Tyneside Council has become less honest. It has become less efficient and it has become unfair.
The Mayor will trumpet 0% council tax bribes from her government but she will stay silent on her record of massive increases in the cost of allotments, the cost of burial and cremation, the cost of swimming, the cost of exercise in our leisure centres, the increase cost of childcare, the unfair use of personal allowance budgets for vulnerable people to sneak through inflation busting rises to personal care. She’ll not mention her wholesale dismantling of entire services and anti-democratic decision to hive off £250m worth of council contracts to private sector providers who have only one aim – profit maximisation.
She’ll forget to tell the public about her over reliance on outside legal advice to the tune of £61,000 spent on providing her with ways to circumvent the will of this council.
She’ll forget to tell the residents of North Tyneside that under her 4 year reign, she has presided over the largest single increase in the use of consultants as decision makers rather than council officers.
She’ll stay silent on her record of borrowing over £1m for every week of her 191 weeks in charge. Some people may remember that she was elected to ‘tackle the council debt’ and they will remember how she described the council as almost ‘bankrupt’ in 2009.
I’m not saying the Mayor was being economical with the truth back then but ask the question - why she doesn’t say the council is almost bankrupt now even though she’s presided over a massive jump in Debt of £191m? You don’t have to be a consultant on £750 per day to answer that one.
This council has been hollowed out while the rest of the borough has to deal with a triple dip recession, rising household costs, rising costs of council services, from the incompetence of the bin tax to the doubling of fees and charges.
When Linda Arkley’s party, the Tories claim the nation has ‘maxed out its credit card’, then what has the Tories done to North Tyneside.
4 Years of wasted opportunities, all spin and no substance.
4 Years of reckless decisions from the hiring of her own personal party political spin doctor to her own personal barrister giving her advice on tap, at a cost of £61,000 to the poor tax payer.
This budget is a desperate budget – a desperate sleight of hand to try and convince the public of the Borough that 4 years haven’t been wasted.
The truth is the Mayor has failed the test she set herself – she said she would tackle the council debt and under her it’s risen by a whopping £191m.
£1m for every week in power and a million reasons every week why North Tyneside can’t afford another 5 years of the Mayor and her discredited party.
LABOUR REVEALS 2240 HIT BY BEDROOM TAX IN NORTH TYNESIDE 
