Day: February 28, 2015

Following the failure of Brighton and Hove City Council to set a budget for 2015-16 at the Council’s budget meeting on Thursday night (February 26), the Labour leadership is calling on Green and Conservative councillors to come to an agreement when the council reconvenes on Tuesday so that residents, services and businesses are clear about the future.

Councillor Warren Morgan, leader of the Labour and Co-operative group, said: “There is an agreement on the table that keeps our children’s centres open, funds important voluntary groups, freezes essential parking charges, protects some services for children with special needs and a good deal more.” 

“All parties on the council will get something from this deal, and most importantly, residents and services will get a lot out of it. Alongside an affordable increase in council tax, I believe this is a reasonable and sensible compromise we can all unite around.”

“The alternative is to vote down the budget entirely and hand control of our local services to government appointed Whitehall bureaucrats, which would be a disaster for our city. It’s time to show some leadership and common sense.”

The Conservative group have responded by urging the Labour Party to back them in supporting a council tax freeze for residents after this, they say, emerged as the most popular budget option with councillors at Thursday’s budget meeting, which ended in stalemate.

In the substantive vote on the 3 budget options on the table, 17 councillors voted for a council tax freeze, with just 13 councillors each voting for a 2% increase and a 5.9% increase.

Conservatives are also calling on Independent councillor Christina Summers and UKIP councillor Leigh Farrow, who voted against all 3 proposals on the table, to back the freeze in order to pass a lawful budget when the Council reconvenes next Tuesday (March 3).

Cllr Geoffrey Theobald, leader of the Conservative group, said: “It was clear on Thursday that the council-tax freeze option had the greatest amount of support among members of the Council. I, therefore, feel very strongly that it is incumbent upon Labour group members in particular to compromise when we meet again next week to try and set a lawful budget.

“Labour’s 2% increase proposal would only raise an extra £900k – a tiny fraction of the Council’s overall £750 million budget – after taking into account the council tax freeze grant from the Government of £1.2 million. And as I pointed out at Thursday’s meeting, a 2% increase would be 7 times the current rate of inflation, and at a time when most household bills are falling this is simply not justifiable. I urge the Labour group, the smallest political group on the Council, to compromise and help us deliver what the residents of this city clearly want – a council tax freeze.”