Council Budget looks bleak

Tory Council savings simply not materialising

This article is worth reading because over the next month Council chieftains will be crunching the numbers for next years budget.

The fact that the Conservatives have utterly mismanaged the books is not new news for many readers. One scroll down this blog and you begin to see the sheer level of fiscal incompetence overseen by the lead Councillor for Finance, Alan Jarrett.

Medway Conservatives have been shockingly poor managers of your money. The overspend on the bus station is but the latest example of poor fiscal management.

Not only are the figures in a bad state but on current estimates its looking even bleaker. The current capital and revenue budgets show a £5.1m overspend; some departments are clearly scraping the budget dregs because other departments have gone woefully over budget.

We all accept that increasing costs to education and child safety are unfortunate trends. Mismanaging capital expenditure and spending our reserves during the good years are Conservative mistakes. The Medway Tunnel was a Tory mistake as was the sheer failure to manage regeneration appropriately.

The last Medway Labour administration epitomised the Better for Less model. We cut the levels of local government and reduced the number of Councillors to its current historical low-level of 55. We scrapped the duplication of District and County Councillors; a confusing two-tier approach to local government which simply confuses the public who want a single point of contact. Our proposals saved millions and allowed asset sales of duplicated services.

Indeed, despite the Tory waffle about low Council Tax rates, it was Medway Labour and the creation of a single-tier of local government in Medway that is to credit for this. We created a more efficient model of governance than is quite frankly noted in some of the gravy train borough Councils in parts of Kent. I know many of those controlled by Labour would be keen to endorse a Unitary model, if this were available, and this would indeed reduce the cost of politics.

The Tory big idea is to tinker with the back-office of the Council at a cost of millions to expensive consultants. There is a visible difference in ambition and achievement between Medway Labour and the current Conservatives.

On current figures, the Tories mismanagement locally, in conjunction with the eye-watering local grant reductions, have left us in a parlous state. Some truly terrible times are ahead and let not one blue-rinser pretend otherwise; their utter incompetence locally has been hidden by increasing flows of money. As this is now turning through cash reductions and inflation, the incompetence will no doubt become more exposed.

Residents will be keeping an eye on front line service cuts; bus services, Sure Starts, road improvements, schools and budgets to reduce graffiti and anti-social bahaviour. Free swimming and the continued funding of the Young Person bus pass will also be a focus

We will all be watching the budget process very very closely indeed ans rest assured this blog will be highlighting the Tory inconsistencies, u-turns and probable bare-faced Local Election fibs