Collin Brewer resigns

That Collin Brewer should have felt the need to resign following his horrible comments about disabled children is no surprise. That it has taken this long to happen is.

Collin made the comments 18 months ago. I have no reason to doubt the explanation he has given - that he was 'het up' after a council meeting. But that cannot be any excuse for hate speech such as this. To be honest, I think his place on the council was finished at that point.

I know that some have been criticising the delay in the Standards Committee report and what appears to be the wishy-washy punishment - telling him to apologise. Sadly, the procedure is now different from what it was in the past and the range of punishments far less. In the past a suspension could have been recommended. Now the demand for an apology is the highest sanction. There is no doubt, therefore, that Cornwall's standards committee and the staff involved in the process followed the rules to the letter. But Collin could have chosen to resign at any point during this process and it appears that only during an interview with Laurence Reed yesterday did he truly realise how untenable his position had become.

I regret that any councillor should have to resign their position and Collin has undoubtedly done a lot for his community over the years. But it was right that he should resign and voters will have the chance to elect someone to replace him in two months time.

Full credit also to Disability Cornwall who have shown great leadership over this sorry matter.

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Cornwall Budget will boost job numbers

There has been a lot written about the decision by full council on Tuesday to endorse the Liberal Democrat budget amendment. One of the uglier consequences is that some councillors who supported the cabinet's proposed tax rise are scare-mongering about where the axe will fall. Yet this budget will actually boost jobs numbers, not cut them.

Shamefully, some are suggesting that whole swathes of adult care, children's services and other front-line services will go.

In our budget amendment, the Liberal Democrats made it quite clear that we wanted to see the amount being spent on agency staff and consultants cut. Two years ago, that amount was £750,000 per month. Now it is more than £1.1 million per month. We have set a target of bringing the level of spending back down to that of two years ago.

This is partly due to a small number of consultants on rates of more than £1000 per day. But it is mainly down to a culture of 'flexible working' whereby agency staff are being used because it is easy to hire and fire them as they are needed. But agency staff are expensive - sometimes costing the council as much as double the rate of workers on contracts. And so it seems pretty pointless to use agency staff except for emergencies.

Yet Cornwall Council, under the Conservatives, has been using more and more agency staff to cover routine work. This is work that has to be done week in, week out and the staff who are doing it are good at it. We don't want to lose them. So we have said that the bulk of the savings should be made by transferring agency workers onto contract. Same staff, same work, savings for the council.

Yet some councillors seem to be implying that they would rather cut services instead. I think, and hope, that they are bluffing. But if they insist on doing so then this is their decision. It is not necessary because of the budget vote and Lib Dems will be campaigning against it.

What seems also to have been forgotten is the investment that the budget will be making in extra services:

• The decision to put £2.5m into road repairs over the next two years will keep more people in work and mean that our roads get repaired properly rather than the 'dry-fill' repairs that are the only option for our staff and which barely last a day or two in places;
• The decision to clean up our beaches and verges will help sustain our tourist industry which supports tens of thousands of jobs and the biggest sector of our economy;
• The decision to put money into tackling anti-social behaviour will mean more jobs in our youth service in the short-term but will also help young people avoid criminal records and mean that they are more employable in the future;
• The decision to cut parking charges will help to safeguard tens of thousands of jobs in town centre shops and businesses that were threatened by the high charges levelled by the Tory-led administration.

In short, this was a budget that will mean more jobs, nor fewer.

In other news, it appears that cabinet member Carolyn Rule has quit the Conservative group in protest at the decision by the party leadership to back the tax freeze.

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Cornwall Council backs Lib Dem council tax freeze and investment in services

Today, Cornwall Council accepted the Liberal Democrat budget alternative. As a result, in the coming financial year we will see:

• council tax frozen
• cuts to parking charges
• our roads repaired
• investment to tackle anti-social behaviour
• a spring clean for Cornwall

None of this would have happened if the Liberal Democrats had not been pushing for it. The Council's Conservative-led administration was arguing for a 1.97% rise.

We put together our alternative because that is what residents told us they wanted. We listened to local people who said they could not afford to pay even more on their council tax bill. We listened to town centre businesses who said their future was being put at risk by high parking charges. And we listened to residents who said they wanted something more done to tackle anti-social behaviour.

Today the Independents and the Conservatives on the ruling cabinet tried to force through a council tax rise and no investment in services. But the Lib Dem amendment was backed by enough of the backbench Conservatives to do the right thing for Cornwall. I'm grateful for their support but it shows once again how out of touch the Conservative leadership are with the wishes of the people of Cornwall.

We acknowledge that these are still touch times for Cornwall Council. The programme we have put forward still requires lots of hard work by the council's excellent officers. But we are confident that this will produce a better Cornwall and focuses more on what local people want.

As ever, the Liberal Democrats have done our best for the people of Cornwall.

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West Briton raises concern over Cornwall's use of agency social workers

A story in the West Briton this week makes disturbing reading about the way in which agency staff are employed by Cornwall Council as social workers.

The article, which is based on a freedom of information request, claims that there are large scale vacancies for social workers in Cornwall and that many agency staff are used to cover the gaps. The cost of agency staff can be double that of a full-time Cornwall employee.

Quite rightly, Cornwall Council is taking action to make sure that there are always enough social workers to undertake the responsibilities of the authority. They also say that there is an on-going recruitment exercise in place to fill vacancies.

But the cost of agency staff has ballooned so much in recent years. In March 2011 we were told by the then Conservative leadership that the cost for all agency staff and consultants was £750,000 per month and that this was too high. Now the total cost is around £1.1 million per month.

When I have pressed on the cost of consultants and agency staff I was told that it was often a more cost effective way of employing staff.

But whilst I can see how having flexibility of staff numbers in some areas can be beneficial and cost effective, I don’t see how paying double for staff we will always need can be described in this way.

This is not a matter of cutting jobs. There is a need for a full complement of adult and children’s services social work staff. But it would be much more cost effective for the council to make these staff permanent than to carry on using such huge numbers of agency workers.

In our budget amendment, Liberal Democrats are seeking a cut of around 25% in the amount spent on consultants and agency staff. We know that we cannot afford to have vital front line services left uncovered and so there will need to be some agency workers employed in social work for some time to come, as well as the call centre. But the directors of these services should be asked to come up with a plan to reduce the reliance on agency staff and thereby reduce the overall cost to the authority.

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Chief Constable sends out 'no compromise' message re force values

Congratulations to Devon and Cornwall's new Chief Constable on the message he has sent out about the force's values. His no compromise message highlights the dangers that face our force at a time when public confidence in the police has been shaken.

I don't believe that there is any systemic or individual problem in Devon and Cornwall Police that will cause the public to lose trust. But we cannot avoid the fact that the phone hacking saga, arrests and allegations of improper police behaviour and relationships with journalists have done much to shake the national confidence.

It would be all too easy for a force like Devon and Cornwall to sit back and believe that this is a problem that does not affect them. But Shaun Sawyer has not done that. He has issued a message to all members of his force which set out the values that the public expects them to uphold and which he will not compromise on.

Mr Sawyer says:

"I am serious about making sure everyone understands, signs up to, delivers and demonstrates the Forces values.

Some people seem to take the view that we must choose between meeting targets and abiding by our values. This is false. We will not reward people for hitting targets in an unethical way that is inconsistent with our mission, vision and values.

Our communities will only trust in us if we provide them with the best possible service. I will not accept performance that compromises either demonstrating our values or our focus on driving down crime and protecting those most vulnerable; to do so would be to do the public and ourselves a disservice."

Hear, hear

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Cornwall's Liberal Democrat alternative budget - the details

Today Cornwall's Liberal Democrats announced an alternative budget to freeze council tax and invest in front line services. Here are the detailed figures for the coming financial year. The full amendment that will be voted on by the council includes everything for the next four years.


The Liberal Democrat budget proposal seeks to implement spending commitments as follows for 2013/14:

Council Tax Freeze: £4.272 million
Partially restore Leader’s Contingency Fund: £0.2 million
Investment in Youth Services: £0.2 million

In order to pay for this spending, the Liberal Democrats propose to raise income as follows (all figures are in comparison with Council Leader’s proposals):

Cuts to consultants and agency staff: £3.672 million
Cuts to Council Communications budget: £400,000
Raising Council Tax collection rate target from 97.5% to 97.7%: £0.6 million

In addition, there are three proposals for limited time spending:

The Liberal Democrats will cut parking charges across Cornwall in 2013. The details of the exact price changes will be worked out in consultation with local councillors and communities. The overall cost will be underwritten up to £1.2 million per year for two years.

We also recognise that the road repair and safety budget has been raided constantly over the last few years to plug the hole in the parking budget. We will therefore put £1.245m extra into the road repair budget for each of the next two years.

This money will come from the guaranteed Government Freeze Grant provided for two years of £2.445m per year.

The new waste contractor, Cory, failed to deliver the service they were paid for in April 2012. As a result, contractual penalties are being negotiated between Cory and Cornwall Council. The exact figures are confidential at this stage. Liberal Democrats will use this one off payment to invest in additional beach cleaning and litter picking across Cornwall during the 2013.

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Cornish Liberal Democrats announce zero rise budget alternative

• Another year of council tax freeze
• Cuts to car park charges
• Investment in road repairs and youth services
• More money for beach cleaning and litter picking

Cornish Liberal Democrats are today announcing a budget alternative which would see council tax frozen for a third straight year. 

“Our budget alternative stands in stark contrast to the official budget proposal of the Conservative-led council,” said Cllr Jeremy Rowe, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Cornwall Council.  

“Where they promise a council tax rise, we will freeze it. Where they propose service cuts, we have found the money to reverse many of the harshest. Where they have slashed money for road repairs, we will invest millions and we will cut car parking charges across Cornwall. 

“The Conservatives on Cornwall Council have a history of wasting money. They spent millions on the failed bid to privatise a huge range of services without public or Council support. Their own budget documents show how their group leader lost £300,000 of income in the coming year by failing to implement a fairer scheme for discretionary rate relief. And let’s not forget the £50,000 given to Plymouth in their attempt to host the World Cup and the money wasted by ferrying tea and coffee between offices by taxi. 

“Last year, council tax was only frozen because the Liberal Democrats campaigned for it. Independents, MK and Labour voted for a rise and the Conservatives dithered. This year, the Conservative cabinet members have again said openly they are looking to the Liberal Democrats to take the lead and propose a freeze. We are happy to do so. 

“This year’s council tax freeze will save between £25 and £70 for every household in Cornwall. At a time of continuing economic hardship, Cornwall Council should be doing our bit to help as many people as possible.” 

As well as a council tax freeze, Liberal Democrats are proposing to cut car park charges across Cornwall. Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Cllr Alex Folkes, said: 

“We believe that high car park charges deter motorists and damage our town centre shops and businesses. The proof is in the £3m bail out that had to be given to the car park budget last year and the £1.8m this year. 

“In Launceston we have proved that cutting car park charges can actually result in higher income for the council. Happier motorists, happier businesses and a happier council. We will do this for towns and villages across Cornwall by cutting parking charges. We are confident that this will succeed and we are dedicating £1.2m per year for the next two years to underwrite the project.” 

Liberal Democrats have also recognised the damage that has been done to our road network through cuts to the repairs budget. The budget will invest more than £1.2m per year for the next two years in filling potholes and repairing carriageways. 

Lib Dem Finance spokesman Ann Kerridge said: “The Conservatives stripped the road repair and safety budget by millions in order to plug the holes in their parking budget. Last week they announced that their own budget proposal would put around £65,000 more into the pot. Whilst we believe this is welcome, it is dwarfed by the £2.490m we will be investing. 

“When we talk to residents across Cornwall, one of the areas they tell us worries them most is yobbishness and anti-social behaviour. Whilst the Conservative Police Commissioner is increasing his demands on council tax whilst slashing officer numbers, we want to do more to tackle these problems. We will invest an extra £200,000 into the work being done by Cornwall’s excellent youth service to tackle anti-social behaviour.” 

Liberal Democrats are also proposing to reverse some of the damage done by one of the worst failings of the Conservative administration. 

Deputy Leader Alex Folkes said: “In April 2012, a new waste collection and street cleaning service started. The introduction was so mis-handled by both the Conservative-led council and the contractor that tens of thousands of bins were not emptied and many streets were not cleaned. The impact on our tourism industry could have been catastrophic. We will invest in a ‘spring clean for Cornwall’ ahead of the coming tourist season by using the contractual penalties the council will receive from the contractor to invest in additional beach cleaning and litter picking. 

“Sadly, the one Tory decision that we cannot reverse is their imposition of a poor tax on 26,000 of the least well off working age families in Cornwall. Their vote in January to impose an average £265 council tax rise on these families is shameful. Regrettably, the Government has decreed that the scheme decided then cannot be altered. 

“In order to pay for the council tax freeze and other proposals, we will press ahead with our plans to cut spending on consultants and agency staff. In addition, we will cut the amount that Cornwall Council is spending on spin doctors and communications. The Conservatives actually wanted to increase this budget in the coming year. We will reverse that rise and ask that department to work with 6.25% less than the current year. 

“We will also be challenging Cornwall Council to do better collecting council tax. The target set by the Conservatives is 97.5%. Already our officers are beating that rate and we challenged them to become one of the best authorities in the country. We have set a challenge for the coming year of 97.7%” 

Lib Dem Group Leader Jeremy Rowe added: “At this difficult time, no party is able to promise to protect every aspect of council spending. Sadly, there are some tough choices to be made. We will not shy away from those and there are some areas where we are proposing cuts which we would prefer not to have to make. But when the choice is between council propaganda or repairing our roads and helping hard pressed families across Cornwall, the Liberal Democrats know which side we are on. 

“At their budget meeting last week, Conservative cabinet members queued up to ask the Liberal Democrats to take the lead to do what is right for the people of Cornwall. This budget does so and we would welcome the support of Conservatives and the people of Cornwall.”

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