Crawley Labour's Council Tax Bombshell

Below is a Conservative Group press release issued after last week's Full Council at Crawley Borough Council where Labour voted down our Budget Strategy Amendment to maintain a balanced budget in each of the next three years. This is exactly what they used to do before 2006 when Crawley last had a Labour Council. They would consistently put back the date that they planned to balance the budget. In the end, it took a Conservative Council to do it. Labour just never learn...

Labour in Crawley mirror the national party - they never learn!

The Conservative opposition at Crawley Borough Council have warned of a “Council Tax Bombshell” being stored up for the future after the controlling Labour group voted down a Conservative amendment to continue to balance the Council’s Budget in each of the next three years at last week’s Full Council meeting.

The Council’s Budget Strategy sets out the Council’s financial policy direction for future budgets. The previous Conservative Administration had a policy of living within the Council’s means while not raising Council Tax which meant that expenditure did not exceed income, known as a balanced budget. This was the existing position for this year’s Council Budget.

At the Full Council meeting, the new Labour Administration ditched this policy, hoping that they might be able to deliver a balance budget in three years’ time. In response, the Conservatives tabled an amendment calling for the Council’s Budget to continue to be balanced in each of the next three years.

Conservative Leader Cllr Duncan Crow (Furnace Green) said “Some of what is in the budget strategy are Conservative policies and I am pleased Labour are implementing our policies and accepting the Conservative-led Government’s grant for a fifth successive Council Tax freeze next year. However, by having no aspiration to balance the budget and with only a vague reference to balance it in three years’ time, we are concerned that the current sound financial position of the Council is at risk and that Labour risk storing up a Council Tax Bombshell that Crawley residents will have to pay for in the future.”

The concerns of Conservative Councillors were echoed by Crawley MP Henry Smith who said “If Crawley residents want an idea of what a future Labour Government would be like with the public finances, they do not have to look very far. Almost immediately, a new Labour controlled Crawley Borough Council has decided to stop living within its means and is risking the creation of a financial mess for Crawley Council Tax payers in the future.”

Crawley Observer Column 23rd July 2014

This week in my Crawley Observer column (below the photo) I have written about Labour's Budget Strategy at Crawley Borough Council and how my colleagues and I are trying to get them to act responsibly with the Council's finances. Below in italics is the amendment that I proposed at last night's Full Council meeting which was seconded by our Deputy Group Leader, Cllr Richard Burrett. Incredibly, in the debate at last night's Full Council meeting, a Labour Cabinet Member described our amendment to maintain the current balanced budget as "a ridiculous amendment".

3) Note that there is a gap of £1.1m between projected General Fund income and expenditure for the three year period to 2017/2018 and work towards balancing this over a three year period maintain the existing balanced budget in each of the next three years, including putting back into reserves when the budget is in surplus.

Labour and financial competence never go hand in hand  

"Whether it is a government, a company, or a household budget, most of us know that running finances on a sound footing and living within our means is vital in ensuring we have a level of security for the future.

Crawley Borough Council is no different and the good services it provides can only be sustained for the long-term if difficult decisions are faced up to. Indeed, many services have been protected for the long-term thanks to the Conservative control of the Council from 2006 to 2014 when we made £8 million worth of efficiency savings, most of which Labour opposed.

Now that Labour are once again responsible for the Council’s finances as they were prior to 2006, I fear that history will repeat itself and that we will see again the fudging of taking the necessary financial decisions that ensures the Council remains in good shape to provide future services. The omens are not good as the Budget Strategy being voted on at this week’s Full Council meeting shows.

The Council’s Budget Strategy is financial planning for the next three years. What is alarming is that it is proposed to deviate from the existing status quo of having a balanced budget and then crossing fingers that it will balance again in three years’ time. This is the same three-year plan to balance the budget that the last Labour Council had before 2006. What happens is they move the goalposts and forever defer the date that the budget will be balanced.

I believe the new Labour Council should start as they mean to go on. Therefore, in order to focus minds on this vitally important decision, I have proposed an amendment to the Budget Strategy for this week’s Full Council meeting, recommending that the Council’s Budget continues to be balanced from next year. I genuinely believe this is achievable without pain and if Labour accepts this, we can work together in maintaining the Council sound finances so that good services can continue to be provided for years to come."  

Conservatives standing up for Crawley's Private Sector Tenants

Tonight at Crawley Borough Council's Full Council meeting, Crawley Conservatives are tabling a Notice of Motion to stand up for Crawley's private sector housing tenants against Labour's Tenant Tax. Below is our Notice of Motion to the Council which is proposed by Cllr Richard Burrett (Shadow Cabinet Member for Housing) and seconded by Cllr Duncan Crow (Conservative Group Leader). The motion is below.

Do Labour think private sector tenants are a soft option to tax?

"This Council recognises that rented accommodation in the private sector is an important part of Crawley’s diverse mix of housing. The Council is concerned to learn that Croydon Borough Council, the nearest Labour-controlled Council to Crawley, plans to introduce a Licensing Scheme for private rented accommodation that risks additional costs of £200 per year being passed on to private sector tenants in the Borough.

Whilst recognising that licensing is required for rented Homes in Multiple Occupation (HMOs), and that such licensing already exists in Crawley, this Council believes that a Licensing Scheme for all properties in the private rented sector risks increased costs being passed on to tenants.

Therefore, in order to bring reassurance to Crawley’s private sector tenants and to avoid putting upward pressure on rents and fees, this Council resolves not to implement any policies in the private sector housing market which:

i.        create additional costs for the sector; and

ii.      risk a reduction in the number or percentage of private sector properties being available to be offered for rent on the open market in Crawley."