Sadly, but not entirely unpredictably, Cornwall Council's cabinet have thrown their toys out of the pram when it comes to implementing the budget agreed last month by the full council. They are talking up the threat of service cuts rather than cutting back on waste.
The full council backed a Lib Dem amendment which will see a council tax freeze - saving every household between £20 and £70 this year. In addition, there will be £2.5 million invested to repair the roads over the next two years, cuts to parking charges, action to tackle anti-social behaviour and a spring clean for Cornwall. No wonder the cabinet didn't like it - they wanted to see a tax rise and no investment in services.
The key to paying for this was a cut to the amount wasted on consultants and agency staff. In just two years, this amount has risen from £750,000 per month to £1.1 million per month. Full council asked for this to be reversed. There needed to be no cuts in services and no front line staff axed.
But the cabinet could not give up their addiction to consultants and expensive agency staff. The council has issued a press release which doesn't mention a cut to consultants at all. And, whilst some departments appear to be able to cut back on agency spending with no real impact on performance, others claim that they must lose full time contract staff and cut services.
The Liberal Democrats are clear that there needs to be no loss to services, no cuts to localism and no cuts to the library service based on the budget passed by full council. These cuts have all been chosen by the current cabinet who are addicted to wasteful spending.
If the Liberal Democrats are given a position of influence after the May elections we will reverse these front line service cuts and implement the budget that was agreed by full council instead.
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The full council backed a Lib Dem amendment which will see a council tax freeze - saving every household between £20 and £70 this year. In addition, there will be £2.5 million invested to repair the roads over the next two years, cuts to parking charges, action to tackle anti-social behaviour and a spring clean for Cornwall. No wonder the cabinet didn't like it - they wanted to see a tax rise and no investment in services.
The key to paying for this was a cut to the amount wasted on consultants and agency staff. In just two years, this amount has risen from £750,000 per month to £1.1 million per month. Full council asked for this to be reversed. There needed to be no cuts in services and no front line staff axed.
But the cabinet could not give up their addiction to consultants and expensive agency staff. The council has issued a press release which doesn't mention a cut to consultants at all. And, whilst some departments appear to be able to cut back on agency spending with no real impact on performance, others claim that they must lose full time contract staff and cut services.
The Liberal Democrats are clear that there needs to be no loss to services, no cuts to localism and no cuts to the library service based on the budget passed by full council. These cuts have all been chosen by the current cabinet who are addicted to wasteful spending.
If the Liberal Democrats are given a position of influence after the May elections we will reverse these front line service cuts and implement the budget that was agreed by full council instead.
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