Mr Mayor, Members, Officers and Residents,

I am grateful for this opportunity to deliver the Liberal Democrats’ response to this year’s Conservative budget, and in doing so, to set out some of the key principles which have informed our proposals.

But first, I would like to commend the work of the Head of Financial Services and her staff for the way in which they have managed both the Council’s finances, and especially this year, have also produced a comprehensible guide to an otherwise incomprehensible subject: Local Authority finances. Perhaps Eric Pickles should be sent a copy!

There can be no doubt that this is an extremely difficult and testing time for the Council. So on behalf of my Group I would like to extend sincere thanks to all staff for their continuing commitment to the Authority, for the way in which they have worked to find ever more efficiency savings and yet still deliver good services for local residents.

I don’t need to remind Members of the substantial cuts that have already been made in order to rebalance the budget for the current financial year. And we are now faced with even more as a result of reductions in grant for the next three years. However, we must recognise 2 things: firstly, most of this funding has had its ring fencing removed, and secondly, most of the Council’s base budget is derived locally through Council Tax. Central Government is no longer dictating how we should spend the money; rather it has given the Council the freedom to make its own decisions and set its own priorities. This is a challenge, but equally, it is an opportunity to show that Poole does things its way and not anyone else’s. I believe that the Conservatives’ budget, whilst rising to the challenge presented by the need to make cuts, fails to grasp the opportunities and fails to address the needs of the people of Poole. It does not protect the services that most affect the vulnerable and it does little for children and young people. It could even be described as short sighted: it has the potential to incur significantly greater costs by creating a rapidly increasing need.

In some respects this is “déjà vu”. It is interesting to note that for this budget, and probably the next two as well, the Conservative administration has at last abandoned above inflation Council Tax rises and proposed a 0% increase. But it would be pretty dumb for an Authority not to do this. After all, the Coalition Government is giving it a no strings grant equivalent to a 2.5% increase in Council Tax for free. I should point out that we proposed a 0% increase in Council Tax last year which the Conservatives rejected. But of course, last year wasn’t an election year! We also proposed significant reductions in the Communications budget last year. These were also rejected at the time, but I note some reductions are now to be implemented.

No one disputes the fact that these are exceptional times and that the mess left by the Labour Government has to be resolved. But they are also changing times: a changing economy and changing demographics have caused a drop in demand for some Council services, an increase in demand for others and also have had a substantial effect on income, expenditure, capital receipts, developer contributions and the investment performance of the Council. This makes it harder than ever to set a budget.

For us there are four key aspects to our proposals which, we believe, will enable us to offer more for the people of Poole:

1. We need to regard our reserves as a more flexible resource. Even Eric Pickles says you can always un-earmark earmarked reserves. It would appear that the Conservative administration is beginning to recognise this as it seems to be accepting that it is a rainy day and that perhaps the reserves might just be a little too high – something we have been telling them for several years now. A 28% reduction in un-earmarked reserves does begin to address the problem but it still leaves the Council with total reserves of £33.9 million, or 33% of the net revenue budget requirements – above the average for Unitary Authorities. We must be prepared to stop setting aside so much in reserves and contingencies. Despite making some reductions there are still proposals to transfer £2.037 million from revenue to capital, almost double the amount transferred two years ago. In addition £1.76 million has been set aside this year as a “Reorganisation Fund” and the new in-year “Contingency” fund which was introduced last year is being increased from £700k to £2.2 million. A reserve by any other name is still a reserve!
2. We take issue with the way some of the policies are being changed and the cuts being implemented. We need to be prepared to increase funding even further for those services which will be needed to support those most in need, particularly the young and the vulnerable of all ages. We cannot accept a policy which allows almost 300 people to fall out of the care system while at the same time imposing increases in charges of up to 600% on those that remain. Cuts which could well force the closure of voluntary Youth centres, as in Parkstone, and/or reduce the opportunities available for young people are unacceptable as they have the potential to increase anti-social behaviour with all that that means for local communities and the Council.
3. We need to maintain funding as much as possible for the voluntary sector rather than slashing grants as this administration is doing, for example, BodyPositive Dorset, a highly regarded local HIV support charity is faced with a £17,000 or 65% cut in its grant from this authority. Apparently PHP are being tasked to do this highly sensitive and specialist work instead but their Supporting People grant is being cut by £129,000. Are you aware that through October to December 2010 Body Positive saw a 250% increase in new registrations in Poole alone, compared with the previous 3 months? This is largely due to the quality of the organisation’s outreach work. Clearly we need to avoid doing lasting damage to the voluntary sector at a time when the emphasis is on the importance of the “Big Society”. We also deplore the way in which some of these decisions are being made – behind closed doors with no dialogue with the Charities, no input from the Grants Panel and no scrutiny. At a time when demand for its services is growing, Poole CAB is laying off 2 staff. Its grant has at least remained at the same level for the last three years but this is still a cut in real terms.
4. We recognise that considerable efforts have been made to reduce waste but there is a need to reduce it even further. Two examples will suffice. Firstly, several aborted proposals for Fourways, together with the notorious Whitecliff portakabins has cost this Council around £875,000 pounds. Secondly, this Council operates with two systems that could be described as Ancient and Modern. Our use of paper costs in the region of £348,000 while the residual costs of the courier service account for £91,668. Do we really need to deliver papers several times a week to Pokesdown and other parts of the conurbation when we also receive the same information electronically? Anything that cannot be sent this way can be self collected from pigeonholes as used to be the case. Surely it’s not too difficult to provide a small bank of laptops for committee meetings. There are numerous other opportunities for making savings through better use of technology, teleconferencing and skyping, for example. If the private sector can do it so can the public sector. And of course there is the little matter of £4,000,000 expenditure on consultants in one year!

As I set out our alternative proposals I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the informed contributions made by my Group members, and to personally thank the Head of Finance for the patient and sympathetic way in which she and her staff have dealt with our questions.

As last year, so this year:

1. A 0% increase in Council Tax is proposed and we will keep the net budget requirement for the financial year 2011/2012 at £102,055,000, thus preserving a balanced position.

2. We propose further additional funding for Adult Social Services of £1,500,000 in order to better protect the vulnerable. In particular, this would aid the transition towards fairer charging by enabling the programme to be phased over a number of years, thus avoiding the impact of excessive (up to 600%) increases. The consequences of not doing this are a reduction in choice and a deterioration in the quality of life for those care users affected. And of course increased costs for the council in the longer term.

3. We suggest an extra £500,000 for Youth Services, and

4. An extra £70,000 for Leisure Services to support community proposed projects that enhance the local environment.

5. We propose to budget an additional amount of £96,000 on services for those who will experience difficulties during the current financial crisis. We believe that the most efficient and effective way to deliver this is through providing extra funding to the voluntary sector in Poole, such as Poole Citizens Advice Bureau and Poole Council for Voluntary Services, to support them and their volunteer staff in extending their operations, as well as further activities such as volunteer recruitment, training and communication.

6. An extra £96,000 to Transportation Services to support additional community bus services.

To achieve this we need to find an extra £2,262,000 which will be funded through the following changes to the proposed Conservative Budget:

v A reduction of 38.8% in expenditure on paper, equivalent to £135,000.

v A restructuring of the internal and external courier service to achieve a 75% saving equating to £70,000. This would include the non-renewal of the external contract which delivers to members.

v With reserves held for revenue purposes at 21.2% and total reserves at 33.2% of the net revenue requirement we suggest using 2.95% or £1,000,000 to support the budget savings and additional expenditure we are proposing. This still leaves £32.87 million total reserves.

v Reduce the transfer of revenue to capital by £1,037,000. This still allows for a transfer of £1,000,000 to capital from revenue.

v There are savings to be made in the budget for members’ allowances. We propose a readjustment of Special Responsibility Allowances for Portfolio Holders and Scrutiny Chairs that would return them to the 2007 levels. Those that lead should set the example. Overall this produces a saving of approximately £20,000. It is assumed that members’ basic allowances are frozen, in line with staff pay.

In addition, prudent asset management can provide additional income streams. Whilst it has been customary to sell off the Council’s assets from time to time for one-off capital receipts, other approaches, which could well provide better value for Poole’s residents, need to be examined. A single example will suffice. It has already been agreed this evening that the “to be closed” Fourways site will be surplus to requirement (see the report). Instead of selling this off why not lease it to a housing association for the development of affordable housing. Not only will this provide much needed housing for Poole’s residents, but it would provide a revenue stream that could help support the vulnerable and the young.

I therefore formally propose the following amendments to the budget proposed by the Leader of the Council:

That Council approves:

1. That a net budget requirement of £102,055,000 is set for 2011/2012 based on the decisions already proposed except for the following:

• The application of £1,000,000 from reserves.

• The allocation to Portfolio areas further to the budget as proposed and as set out in Appendix 2 of the Report to Cabinet and Council, except for:

i. A pro rata reduction of 38.8% of paper costs across all areas to release £135,000.

ii. A reduction of £70,000 in the proposed 2011/12 budget for Resources to accommodate the restructuring of the courier service.

iii. A reduction in the proposed 2011/2012 budget for Members Allowances of £20,000.

iv. An increase in the proposed 2011/12 budget for Community Support of £1,500,000 for Adult Social Services

v. An increase in the proposed 2011/12 budget for Youth Services (within Children’s Services) of £500,000.

vi. An increase in the proposed 2011/12 budget for Leisure Services within Environmental Services of £70,000.

vii. An increase in the proposed 2011/12 budget for Community Support of £96,000 to support the voluntary sector.

viii. An increase in the proposed 2011/12 budget for Local Economy of £96,000 to support public transport.

• That the Capital Programme, as set out in the report, assumes £1,000,000 revenue contributions in 2011/12 rather than £2,037,000.

2. That the cuts to services that have already been made and those that are proposed in the budget are monitored and scrutinised at regular intervals to assess the impacts they are having upon the vulnerable and the young.

Cllr Mike Brooke

Leader, Liberal Democrat Group

Poole Borough Council

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