Tuesday night we had an intersting night where Phil Andrews claimed independence (from the Tories) for less than half an hour.
The budget proposed by the Conservatives was originally voted down.
After a 20 minute break, it emerged that £250,000 was to be made available for unspecified 'community uses'. The ICG leadership then supported the budget.
This was a shoddy deal with no indication as to where the money would come from or what it was going to be spent on. It just proves that the
Conservatives and the ICG are happy to waste residents' money in order
to please themselves. If this money was available, why isn't it being spent on proper public services? They are wasting residents' money while services get worse.
The rest of the Tory cuts remained, with the exception of the removal of the school uniform grants, and the subsidy for community use of school buildings. Lets hope there's still some admin staff available to administer the grants to the families on very low incomes who really need help with these costs.
Hi Ruth
ReplyDeleteOne thing is confusing me. How can you say the £250k for community projects is a waste when by your own admission you don't know what it's going to be spent on?
Is money spent on community-led initiatives always a waste to you guys? Project Empower?
Always remember the ICG motto: We came, we saw, we took it back home in a wheelbarrow!