Richard Baum

The speech below was to second the Lib Dem amendment to last night’s Budget motion. The Lib Dem amendment ensured £350,000 of extra funding for Children’s and Environmental services whilst keeping the Council Tax rise at 3.4%. Cllr Pickstone’s speech dealt with the Children’s element of the proposal, and mine with the Environmental side.

“Mr Mayor, once again this Council comes together to set a budget.  It’s an important thing that we do.  It should not be treated with disrespect. 

My colleague Cllr Pickstone has made it very clear that although the proposed budget has some positive elements, having studied it the one emotion that affects me more than anything else is that of frustration.

Mr Mayor, every year we ask the people of this Borough to put up with less, and to pay more for it.

Even tonight, a Labour amendment that purports to do the reverse has, I think, been unmasked as the lie that it is.

In proposing their deeply irresponsible amendment, Bury Labour stoop to the type of playground politics I suspected was beneath even them.

Their populist, petty, and preposterous proposals play politics with the future of this Borough at the expense of the neediest.

It’s not what any of us were sent here to do.

Money for disabled adults – Gone.

Money for vulnerable children – Gone.

Our reserves – Gone.

Common sense gone too. And in its place, gimmickry and cheap headlines.

And all for party political gain and a desperate clinging to seats in this chamber.

They should be ashamed. 

Mr Mayor, the people of Bury must not be fooled.

This is serious business and should not be treated this way.

Mr Mayor, Labour claim to have provided an easy answer. But there is no easy answer because, as Cllr Pickstone has said, every year the government ask us to provide more, but to do it with less.

Call it efficiency if you like. I am all for efficient public services.

But we aren’t some out of control organisation. It’s not like we’re The Home Office…

The axe that is being wielded tonight isn’t because there’s money wasted all over the place.

We are an efficient organisation.

The Audit Commission say that we’re performing well in every measure of how we use our resources.

Mr Mayor, the reason we’re setting a budget that has to make cuts is because the government’s settlement for the people of Bury is unfair, unrealistic, and woefully inadequate.

Three quarters of our money comes from central government, and once again they haven’t given us enough.

I think it’s worth repeating that the Borough of Bury is 15% worse off in real terms now than it was when Labour came to power in 1997.

15% worse off.

This is a disgrace, during a period when Council Tax has more or less doubled and services have been cut year on year.

Others have plenty Mr Mayor, whilst the people of this Borough have anything but.

The government chooses what it spends its money on, and once again I find myself standing here and saying that they haven’t chosen to spend it on us.

And this year Mr Mayor we have been hampered by political game-playing of the worst kind, from those falsely using the issue of congestion charging to push for an elected Mayor in a referendum that is as irresponsibly based as it is worryingly short sighted.

As Cllr Redstone remarked earlier, a six figure sum has been put aside to pay for the Mayoral referendum and the Mayoral election which may follow.

That’s before we start paying for the Mayoralty itself, which will be another six figures every single year.

The people calling for this referendum should know that mixing the issue with congestion charging means that their actions are dishonest, disingenuous and damaging.

They should know that the money put aside for this vote, forced through on the most flimsy and dubious of grounds, means that there will be less money for the children of this Borough, less money for vulnerable adults, and less money for our environment.

They should reflect on what they’ve done.

Mr Mayor, our amendment this evening seeks to ensure that the environment of this Borough remains as clean, green and safe as is possible.

I’m sure my inbox is no different to each and every one of the Members in the Chamber tonight.

The people of this Borough want cleaner streets, green space and safe places for their families.

And the Liberal Democrat group will ensure that as much as possible is done to give them what they want.

Mr Mayor, our proposals tonight are to invest in parks in this Borough to ensure that every community has a well-managed place of peace and greenery to enjoy.

In my ward, St Mary’s Park is a shining example of all that this Council does well.

It is an oasis which should be treasured, and when it is full of families and children and joggers and games of football it really is a sight to see.  A triumphant beacon lighting up lives and showing the glorious things we can achieve together.

It makes my heart sing Mr Mayor, and we want the same all over Bury, and we propose money be allocated for more Green Flag Parks so that the Council’s ambition of having twelve is realised.

We also want our streets cleaner.

Too often the lives of local people are blighted by the simple things.

Things that can be remedied with nothing more than a bit of money and effort.

Street cleaning is one of them.

I’ve led a relatively sheltered life Mr Mayor, and have never seen the aftermath of an explosion in a fast food wrapping factory.

But my sister is well travelled, and she tells me that the front gardens of my neighbours and me on a Saturday morning is a fairly similar sight.

It’s like a shrine to the God of Kebabs.

But it’s no good Mr Mayor, and we want rid of it. Which is why we propose more street cleaning including Saturday morning cleaning of streets in our commercial centres.

Too often it is too long between cleans, especially when weekend litter accumulates and it becomes difficult to tell where the bins end and the gardens begin.

We are proposing the funding to try and stop that.

And our streets need to stay clean Mr Mayor, which is why we are proposing further funding for enforcement of dog fouling, and increased investment for our dog wardens to work more efficiently.

Enforcement Mr Mayor. Not just of dogs, but litter, fly-tipping and so on, is vital to keeping Bury clean and green.

Mr Mayor, this Council faces difficult choices.

Desperately let down by the Labour government again, and facing local difficulties of its own with the Mayoral referendum, we have to face the people of this Borough and explain why they are, once more, paying more and getting less.

This amendment tries to make things better in the services people care most about. Our streets, our parks, and the many benefits improvements to these and the wider environment will bring.

And I am delighted to second the amendment.”