THE BUDGET CHOICE.......

Press Release:

LABOUR COUNCILLOR WORKS WITH INDEPENDENTS TO DELIVER ALTERNATIVE BUDGET

The Isle of Wight's Labour Councillor, Geoff Lumley has today published the 'Alternative Budget' for Full Council that he now traditionally proposes each year in response to the Conservative budget proposals. For the last three years he has been the sole councillor to do this and he has secured increasing levels of support at each step.

This year Cllr Lumley, in the unfortunate absence of a Labour colleague, has worked with members of the Council's Independent group to produce an alternative budget. The proposal will be seconded by Cllr Ian Stephens, Vice Chairman of the Council. Cllr Lumley also hopes to get support for the proposals from other independent councillors, many of whom have made suggestions for the alternative budget.

The Alternative Budget, although still proposing a 2.5% increase in Council Tax next year, seeks to lessen the effects of some of the savage £11million cuts proposed by the Conservative leadership at County Hall by instead reducing spend on: -

areas that bring little benefit to Islanders, such as media communications and performance measurement;
excessive carbon emissions;
wasted energy usage for some street lighting;
over ambitious capital programmes that are never delivered;
services duplication in the ENO scheme, whilst replacing it with a better-focused community warden scheme;
loss-making harbour and leisure operations;
over-provision for so-called 'doubtful debts';

and makes a novel suggestion that high-earning Council managers set a 'we are all in this together' austerity example by giving up 15% of all earnings above £90,000 pa - potentially raising more than £150k.

In return for these nearly £3 million of efficiencies, the Alternative Budget proposes for example:-

keeping Westminster House open;
putting £1million back into Supporting People, which with the £1.9m still to be properly used for this service rather than other services restores the Cabinet proposed cut entirely;
reversing over £0.5million of the cuts to budgets for vulnerable and homeless people;
cushioning the Council's withdrawl from care facilities like Haylands Farm, Osel and the Riverside and Medina Centres;
reducing the residents car park permit increase to £50 pa less than the leadership proposes, with pensioners still entitled to a £50 permit;
reinstating the youth music service subsidy;
recognising that financial support to unions cannot credibly be cut;
reinstating a budget for public realm works;
and restoring capacity to the Highways service.

Cllr Lumley said, "Although I was intending to do this Alternative Budget on my own I am pleased that a number of independent councillors, and particularly Ian Stephens were keen to be involved. Ian has been a real support. Consequently we have a proposal that addresses a very wide range of spending areas. This is a budget alternative that addresses climate change issues more robustly, as well as redirecting bureaucratic expenditure towards services for vulnerable people. That is what many Islanders want and I hope that this alternative will command wide support in the community if not the Council Chamber. I would have liked to do more, but the mess the Council's finances are in after the last 5 years will take some time to tackle. "

END