Budget setting at the County
Was due to spend most of the day in meetings to be told how the controlling Labour Party are going to spend the billion pound plus budget for 2007/08.
Stomached it for about an hour and decided that as it was a foregone conclusion and, in my opinion, a disaster, I’d go and do some constituency work instead. I don’t know whether it is a blind spot or what it is, but the County could save millions of pounds each year if they only took seriously reducing the 35,000 strong size of the organisation and used technology, like other Authorities are now doing, to maintain front line services but cut out bureaucracy.
I’m really frustrated that our Opposition Group at County know how to stem this ever growing financial black hole in Staffordshire but we don’t have the power to do it. We’ve already this year got Labour’s plans for a new £49million HQ shelved (that project was just mad and so satisfying to get it stopped, particularly when an independent enquiry on it proved us absolutely right) and we’re now fighting hard to stop this Stafford Arts Space plan they have…..£20million to build it.
The publicity we’ve had on this issue is huge. Its been a really successful campaign and I know privately, and in several cases publicly, that many of the Labour backbenchers would love to see the back of it. I think they are quite shocked at the amount of publicity we have created and the public support we have had in opposing it.
The decision on whether to continue with the Arts Centre plans will be influenced (or should be!) by a Scrutiny Committee meeting on the afternoon of 31st Nov. At the last meeting like that, three Labour Members agreed it was a waste of money. It’ll be interesting to see if they stick with that view or follow the Party whip……..the latter I fear although I remain convinced that Terry Dix, the County Leader, doesn’t really want this thing either.
He, however, is giving up the leadership of the County Labour Party so it remains to be seen how the jockeying for position on that front pans out.
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