Mole Valley budget meeting: Lib Dems oppose Tory cuts

9.27.00am GMT Wed 4th Mar 2009

At the Council meeting on February 19th, Liberal Democrats led the opposition to the proposed budget put forward by the Conservative-controlled Council Executive. Despite a Council Tax rise of 4.9% there are severe cuts in services and increases in charges. The Tories are not offering specific proposals to cut back-office administration or the number of Council officers. And there are no cuts in the press office or glossy promotional magazines which the Tories see as priorities.

Outside the Pippbrook offices, crowds were protesting against the threats to Dorking Halls; inside the Council chamber, an unprecedented six petitions were formally presented to Council opposing different cuts proposed by the Tories. Alice Humphreys - Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Mole Valley - presented a petition in support of the Citizens Advice Bureaux, signed by well over 1000 local residents over a 2-week period.

When the budget debate began, Margaret Cooksey - leader of the Liberal Democrat group - responded to the Council Leader's presentation of the budget. She started by pointing out that the change to management by Executive has prevented any earlier discussion of the budget and it had been very difficult for opposition groups, let alone members of the public, to obtain clear information about the proposals. While acknowledging that the Council faced a major financial challenge, Margaret criticised the Tories' knee-jerk reaction to hit front-line services rather than cutting administrative costs, such as use of consultants.

As the debate proceeded, other Liberal Democrat Councillors spoke on specific topics of concern:

• Maurice Homewood explained how the cuts in support for arts and leisure will reduce the 14,000 people attending Arts Festival events - and in many cases also dining or shopping in our town centres.

• Bridget Lewis-Carr pointed out that the Citizens Advice Bureaux remain under threat at a time when they are needed more than ever; as they stand, the Tory proposals still leave the Leatherhead CAB without a facility in 2010.

• Anne Howarth observed that increased allotment charges conflict with the Council's stated aim of encouraging a healthier life-style.

Andy Freeman reviewed the cuts in support for youth services; he questioned how the Youth Council will be able to maintain its services and whether the Youth Games will be open to fewer participants.

• Caroline Salmon pointed out the adverse impact of increased and evening parking charges on business for shops in Dorking. She also criticized that the scrapping of the food waste scheme - it showed how little the Conservative administration really cared for popular recycling schemes.

• Valerie Homewood said that the questions in the formal consultation process undertaken by the Council had been misleading and that the budget decisions bore little correlation to the responses received.

• Stephen Cooksey pointed out how decisions such as the increased car parking charges, reduced programme at Dorking Halls and reductions in environmental care will badly hit small businesses in the towns.

• Tim Loretto explained how increased charges for Dorking Halls in this and previous years combine with budget cuts to drive a downward spiral on activities at Dorking Halls.

• Paul Elderton and Iain Murdoch drew attention to many above-inflation increases for waste disposal, sports pitches and cemeteries - increases masked from public visibility by higher-profile issues.

• Michael Howard summarized that this budget is the cumulative result of several years of Conservative control without a clear sense of direction or priorities. Major expenditure on the Business Process Review has not been explained and will entail significant costs of expensive consultants. He said that councillors supporting the budget would be voting to close the CAB in Leatherhead, to cripple Dorking Halls and against traders our High Streets.

At the end of the debate, in a recorded vote, the Conservative Council group all supported the budget. The Liberal Democrats opposed it. The Ashtead Independents were split. The Leatherhead Independents were absent.