Wyre Forest ‘Tory Towers’ projected savings plan is based on flawed evidence says Barry McFarland
Posted by labourblogger on December 6, 2010
Barry McFarland is Labour Spokesperson for Habberley and Blakebrook
Tories and Lib Dems recklessly pursue single site without Scrutiny of financial risks.
On Wednesday 1st December I sat in the public gallery and witnessed our councillors at work. Our Labour group proposed and spoke elequently, robustly and with clear knowledge and understanding on their motion asking the Tory controlled District Council to suspend and put on hold the project to build a new £10.5 million council office block. This was simply to allow a full scrutiny exercise to take place into the funding and financial risks evident and highlighted by the Labour paper. Thus far our councillors have not been given the opportunity to fully discuss the financial details of this project. The Tories together with the Liberals and Liberal Democrats voted against the motion.So much for democracy. However congratulations to our Labour councillors led by Mick Kelly for standing up for local people with dignity and integrity.
The Tories consistantly used the arguement of value for money within the District and yet voted against the opportunity to evaluate this project in terms of value for money.The Liberals and Liberal Democrats just seemed to follow their Tory masters blindly.
The arguements against the motion were both interesting and spurious. They tried to turn the motion into a criticism of the Officers and their figures – it was not. The figures used by the administration and the Labour Group came from the same source. One Tory councillor argued that supporting this motion would amount to denying local suppliers and tradesmen opportunities to engage in this project and deny young people the opportunity of gaining apprenticeships. If the councillor and the ConDem government were really concerned with opportunities why did they scrap the infinitely larger project involving the rebuilding and refurbishment of our schools. One even referred to cost of living in rural areas! Many arguements quoted the “assumed” and “estimated” annual savings to the council of £688,000. Note the use of “assumed” and “estimated”. The Labour paper suggests the actual figure to be less than £100,000.
We are all well aware that nationally the Tories supported by the Liberal Democrats continue to support the bankers and financial gamblers who almost brought this country to its knees.It seems that locally they are intent on carrying on this tradition by exposing £10.5 million of our money to financial risk. The actions of this Tory led coalition on our District Council are based on flawed evidence and demonstrates gross irresponsibilitry in the current economic climate. Still itis easy to gamble with other peoples’ money – we will all have the opportunity to reward them at the ballot box next May.
Barry McFarland
