Quote:
Originally Posted by Neil
You are the only person on this thread that thinks the Labour council is evil. I don't.
I am concerned by the massive amount of debt or MP says we are in. I am still disappointed he appears to be the councils spokesperson and not one of our many councillors. The usual way for councils to reduce debt is by slashing staff, that means a direct impact on front line services. For me personally the concern is the impact to our parks and green spaces. you are a cabinet member so I am sure you know exactly what my concerns are, if not ask Ciaran in a few weeks when he has been to our meeting.
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I'm not actually in the Cabinet, I'm Chair of Resources Overview and Scrutiny which gives me the opportunity to do pretty much what I set out to do in the first place and try to make money-saving recommendations in any area.
Graham has always been outspoken on subjects which he cares about and he happens to take council business very seriously. I personally don't see the problem and just because he currently has a louder voice than Miles Parkinson doesn't make him the council's spokesperson. The same could be levelled at me on Accyweb although I would never go that far myself, I just have a keen interest in online debates.
The council's finances aren't in the best shape and an FOI request has indicated that the Big Society Grants announced in February this year had seemingly been known to Conservative councillors as far back as August 2010. The cuts that have to be made this year are bad enough but next year they will cripple us and some of it could probably have been cushioned if the spending spree between March and May had been curbed.
There is now no Cabinet Action Fund because Cllr Britcliffe spent it all in one month and basically if (for example) Friends of Rhyddings Park came cap in hand to the council there just isn't any way of justifably giving you any money without handing it out to the other 300 groups that want money too.
Graham may seem like the council spokesman but just bear in mind that Peter would have been exactly the same if he had become MP.