Budget cuts hit front line

This blog enjoys Tory budget time because it shows the public the Conservatives at their worst but today, Councillor Jarrett showed his mental and intellectual incapability to tell the truth with the public.

The gaffe-prone finance supremo Councillor Jarrett had been expected to show some honesty to the public in what was supposed be a downbeat budget outcome after the £23.5m Conservative government cut was announced in December.

Sadly the Conservatives have injected brazen party politics into what should be an exercise of sober reflection.

The budget document itself calls these cuts truly 'unprecedented' (see Point 14.1) which highlights the total distortion of the truth by Medway Tories who claim that these cuts will barely tinker around the edges.


Most people with a brain cell can see that a 11.9% cut in the budget will impact local services.

It is beyond the truth to claim otherwise.

Medway Conservatives are being politically and conceptually dishonest when they claim these cuts will not hurt.

Medway Labour would also have had to make cuts to the budget but we would have been open and consultative with the public about their priorities. The Conservatives have failed to consult the public in any meaningful way on these cuts.

This blog would contend that the Tory spin on the budget shows the utter fallacy of their position; so desperate to win the Local Election they will deceive the electorate on what is basic and visible truth.


In the words of Cllr Alan Jarrett, this budget settlement was a result of a 'smoke and mirror' government settlement which saw clear gerrymandering of finance from Medway to Conservative shire Councils.

He could have made a stand today and admitted that what he had to do was because of this cut on government grant. Instead he spent the time posturing on politics with the Unions and scuttling over to Conservative Home for a fig-leaf of popular comment (all four of them).

Please read the full Budget document here

The background narrative I have highlighted below on the major cuts

Medway Conservatives had budgeted a deficit of £21.5m. The Conservative Government introduced a budget cut of £23.5m. (Point 2.2). The overall budget cut was 11.9% with an additional cut of £9.0m (Point 2.4). Remember folks that the Tory Government told Councils that cuts would be no more than 8.5%. This shows Conservative statements to be a blatant lie; this is worse.

The Conservative Government has cut per-pupil education funding with an effective grant increase of 0.3% (Point 2.7) . Taking into account increase in pupil numbers and inflation this is a cut.

The Conservative Council is cutting the Early Intervention Grant (EIG). This was cut from £12.8m to £10.2m over the last 12 months. This includes cuts to Connexions, Youth Opportunities Fund and Mental Health Services. Sure Start is cut with no inflationary increase in grant and despite review no firm number on the Sure Start allocation.

The Conservative Council has continued the floor damping mechanism (Point 17.3). This will cost tax payers £3.5m which is money re-allocated away from Medway and a mechanism Conservatives pledged to remove. It remains.

The Conservative Council has purchased the Medway Tunnel which Labour warned would be a tax liability. The spend forecast of the tunnel is expected to be £1.5m in 2011/12 and £3.0m in 2012/2013. The tunnel will effectively be a drag on future budgets after 2014/15. A Tory legacy?

15% cut in libraries budget and closure of the Dockyard Store with an increase in rental targets (Appendix 4c)

And now the cuts to frontline services which include increase in punitive charges, increase in revenue from CCTV car and other traffic enforcement process. Also include reduction in waste collection spend and ability to deal with fly tipping. They are blatant and visible in Appendix 4 (b)

This is but a first read of the budget. It does contain drastic cuts in front line services and also in those that support the front line.

The Appendix section highlights the front line cuts in a very transparent manner so how Conservatives can claim there are no cuts is just pure political posturing.

Labour would not have cut the council budget by 11.9%. Our manifesto in the General Election made clear we would halve the deficit over four years so reducing the requirement for local Councils to make such severe cuts.