Political Viewpoint

By Coun Carole Mulroney, Lib Dem Councillor for Leigh Ward – ELECTIONS, ELECTIONS, ELECTIONS

YES we are fast approaching the silly season – it’s not long till May and the Southend Tories are out of the blocks trying to knock holes in the previous administration’s record.

The City circle of life is frustrating and endless and having spent 4 years in the hot seat of the Cabinet you might think, take a rest.

But you can’t. Next year is going to be very interesting with the Tories defending a double figure number of seats.

But of course they have to tear down the old so they can build the Tory Utopia in a few months – heaven help us. The accusations are flying thick and fast and of course some will always believe them, but there is, of course, always an element who will believe the Lib Dems for their openness and genuine passion for the City and its residents and their ability to collaborate and work in partnership.

On elections, all residents will shortly be consulted on potential changes to the electoral position.

Currently 51 councillors are elected in thirds, so an election for three years running and then a fallow year. The consultation will ask which residents prefer, the status quo or a change to all 51 seats being contested, once every 4 years.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both, but looking at what’s going on in Leigh Town Council at the moment (elected every 4 years) may think the effort of yearly elections is worth it. We’ll see – it’s not a very sexy topic though.

To a lot of people Local Government finance is baffling – for me when I first started –why can’t money just be moved around and how did we end up with a £14M projected overspend when we pay ‘so much’ council tax (but still one of the lowest in Essex). Why do we spend large sums on some projects whilst there are other more ‘worthwhile’ causes.

Well it is a question of what local government is allowed to do. The overspend is almost all in Adult Social Care and Childrens Services.

With around 600 (mainly elderly) people in full time residential care at around £1000 per week each – that’s c£30million pa – care home fees are up 11% in a year. Around 970 people qualify for home helps, at an average cost of £360 a week – a further £18million, a 33% increase in a year.

We have about 60 children in residential or other care homes that we have a statutory duty to look after. The average cost for each child is a staggering £268,000, up 7% this year – that’s a further £16million.

So a total of £64M alone on those 3 things that we must, by law, provide. So, those costs are soaring by between 7% and 33% pa and we are only allowed, without a local referendum, to raise Council Tax by 5%. And remember, like our own finances, what Government gives in one hand, it takes with the other, so the slight increase in funding this year is soon a distant memory.

Not to mention the surge in energy bills, Trussonomics and the existential rise in the costs of everything from pens to pavements.

For the Tories it is always someone else’s fault. But it is their Government which has steadily starved local authorities of funding for 12 years and at the same time pushed more and more services down to council level. Not to mention a global pandemic – how much did they waste on PPE, whilst local authorities were working flat out to help their residents.

Sadly, one thing the Tories at Southend are right about is that cuts will have to be made and we can already see the sword of Damocles hanging over libraries, children’s centres, environment etc. We will fight to save these services.

All council services have to be funded – so when we get the chance of government funding, i.e. for expanding the Cliffs Pavilion, we have to grab it or we would never be able to do those things that enhance people’s lives and well-being and raise extra income for the City.

There has to be a non-gloomy side to life. And we can’t spend that money on anything else. So let’s remind the Tories – next year when hopefully the sun has set on their governance nationally and locally, the British people will know the difference between those who stand with them and those who think they are a cut above.

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