In response to news released yesterday by Isle of Wight Council that up to 200 jobs may be cut, Island Labour Agent, Cllr Geoff Lumley, condemns the Tory Isle of Wight Council for frittering away financial balances over the last four years instead of holding them in reserve for this economic downturn.
He said,
“It is the nature of the market that there will be economic downturns.
A truly prudent Council leadership would not have been squandering so much of its previously healthy reserves on some of its pet projects and vendettas over the last 4 years – like the Undercliff enquiry, the never-ending use of consultants, and a beefed up media operation – in anticipation of the next downturn.
£5 million was pumped into the Council budget from reserves last year alone, which would have bridged this year’s gap. That would have meant that we could have retained these 200 jobs for our local economy. 200 jobs out of our community is bad news for families and bad news for business.”
