Labour Councillor, Geoff Lumley Releases ‘The People’s Budget’

This in from Labour county councillor, Geoff Lumley, in his own words. Ed

As promised last week Labour IW Councillor Geoff Lumley has today (Friday) published his ‘People’s Budget’ as an alternative to the £17.8m cuts package to be proposed by the Tory leadership to Full Council next Wednesday. It retains a NIL% increase in Council Tax. (Attached)

Cllr Lumley is proposing that £3.8m of the proposed Tory cuts to valued and essential services be avoided in 2011/12 by the judicious use of existing reserves and £500k+ of additional income proposals.

Essential services for another 12 months
As a consequence his budget would guarantee a further 12 months of the following valued services:

The complete, existing Library Service; all existing public conveniences, the existing lifeguard service; all Tourist Information Centres; Wightbus; free pedestrian travel on Cowes Ferry; the Waterside Pool; subsidy to Ventnor Botanic Gardens and Dinosaur Isle.

Additionally he would:

Reverse the proposed social care eligibility criteria changes;
Retain children and youth related activities.

Pay cuts for senior staff
Some of the additional income will come from pay cuts to those senior Council staff earning over £50k per annum, delivering nearly £300k. Those earning over £90k pa would lose 15%, those earning between £70k and £90k would lose 10%, and those between £50k and £70k would lose 5%.

However, most of the funding required will come from Council’s General Reserves – currently amounting to £7.3m, plus a further £12m of ‘earmarked’ reserves. Cllr Lumley would reduce the general fund by £3.3m to fund valued and essential services for another year. This would still leave £4m in General Reserves.

“Council leadership squandered reserves”
Cllr Lumley said, “In February 2008, when the Council leadership were squandering Reserves to the tune of £9m on balancing their budgets for 2008 and 2009 I was very, very critical. I said Reserves – like personal savings – should be held onto for future ‘rainy days’. 2011’s Council budget round sees the first real ‘rainy days’ with a £7m reduction in government funding and nearly £11m of further Council cutbacks on their agenda. This is the time to use Reserves and that is why I am proposing we do that.

“The Council leadership have been complaining rightly about having to deal with the ‘front loading’ of the government’s proposed funding cuts over the next four years. By using Reserves to protect valued and essential services for another year we would effectively be dealing with that problem for ourselves and giving ourselves time to find further efficiency savings to continue with these services beyond April 2012.

People’s budget shows what can be done
Cllr Lumley went on to say, “The services I have described as valued or essential are precisely those ones that have drawn headlines in recent weeks, ever since the scale of the Council’s proposed cuts were trailed back in late November. People all over the Island, young and old, male and female, able and disabled, have said to me ‘what can be done to save our valued and essential services?’.

“I hope that my ‘People’s Budget’ shows everyone precisely what could be done and I hope that it will meet with general approval. However, I am realistic enough to know that there is no chance of it – or other budget alternatives – being adopted. And that is a Tory tragedy for the Isle of Wight.”