Norfolk County Council Liberal Democrats

Paul Morse's Budget Speech 2010

Since the comparable meeting last year we have seen trust in politicians crumble and the economic challenges become starker and clearer. It is too easy though just to focus on the recession and forget the gross inequalities that have long blighted us. Last month it was reported that income inequality is now higher than in the 1940's; acute inequality is a Tory legacy from the Thatcher years which Labour has failed to fix.

Shortly I will put forward a Liberal Democrat budget to help bridge that gap between rich and poor, but firstly I will put forward an approach to running the Council that would restore some trust from a disenchanted public.

We do need to look at why what we do here is of so little interest to the public. I would remind this Chamber that just 38.6% of the Norfolk electorate thought it worth voting last June. 18% of us were elected by less than a third of their electorate.

Public office is a privilege and a responsibility; it is a privilege to represent your community but a responsibility to meet its expectations. Too often this administration has failed to accept this responsibility. We have seen the public refused the right to speak at meetings, consultations treated like foregone conclusions, questions from Members at Council unanswered and working groups politicized so that political affiliation is more highly valued than knowledge and commitment. We become consumed with the petty. Never was this more evident than in the treatment of the 10/10 motion when we spent 45 minutes arguing over procedures and trying to score petty political points rather than simply agreeing we agreed.

Today we will decide how to spend over £1.5bn of the public's money yet only 2 people have come to listen.

In Devon where they have webcasting Council meetings are regularly viewed by over 2,000. Our budget allocates £30,000 capital funding to enable webcasting of council and panel meetings. We are not keeping in touch with the public. Its time we stopped paying lip service to the 21st century and propelled this council into it .The LD group of 13 has more bloggers than the rest of this council put together. In this new age of communications there is no excuse for resisting new ways of being accountable.

Most will be sceptical of this but the make-up of this council does not reflect Norfolk anyway. We need to break the image of the stereotypical councillor, Look around; Council membership is dominated by retired white males. It shouldn't be difficult for someone in their 20's or 30's to feel at home here or someone in full time employment to be a councillor …. But it is.

This Council needs fundamentally to alter the way it operates; evening meetings and teleconferencing for example, so it can draw Members from across the Community.

We need too to conduct our business and ourselves in ways that give the public confidence. I mentioned the 10/10 motion, but another shameful example was Cabinet on 25th January. I saw the spectacle of Labour Councillors playing to a non existent gallery. I then saw the spectacle of the Tory Cabinet queuing up like competing volcanoes to pour scorn on the Labour government for their mishandling of the economy .I agreed the first time but did you all need to say it with increasing vitriol? Political posturing to a non existent audience. You also delude yourselves that Cameron and Osborne would have done any better. Like Labour, the Conservatives did not see the economic crisis coming. You know what I am going to say now and you know it is true. Amongst politicians, only Vince Cable and the Liberal Democrats saw those problems coming .We were ringing alarm bells and providing solutions from early in the decade.

I move now to our Budget proposals which reflect the constraints the economic downturn has placed upon us. The last year has seen an unprecedented spotlight on climate change, though if Tory councillor attitudes mirror those of their MPs the majority will deny that man's actions are a factor. This council needs to shape the attitudes of Norfolk but before it can do that it must put its own house in order. We would take some very simple actions. Around 50% of County Hall staff live within 3 miles of their work yet our car parks are overflowing. We have to enable them to get out of their cars by providing the facilities for them to use alternative forms of transport. The answers like, car sharing, bike purchase schemes and shower facilities are not new or expensive. We also run over 2000 vehicles yet don't promote the use of alternative fuel. We would reduce the number of cars leased to individuals and introduce a pool of hybrid cars, thus both reducing the number of vehicles on the road and making those that are, more environmentally friendly. The evidence is clear; we are yet to commit to being a green council

Nor is this Council committed to addressing the inequalities facing young people .We would take four measures to bridge that inequality gap. Firstly, a travel card for 5-18 years olds giving them 50% off bus travel at all times. For environmental reasons we need to get more people using public transport and that is a habit best learned early in life. Equally importantly the Card would open more economic and social opportunities to our young people. Secondly, rather than wipe out the subsidy for the Holt and Wells Field centres now, we would reduce it to zero over five years. These centres are valuable educational resources and inspire young people. Thirdly, a LD Council would become an exemplar in providing apprenticeships. Just 8 recruited in 2008-09 for a workforce of 16,500. That is simply unacceptable. Fourthly, for many young people in Norfolk higher education is just a dream. Nationally 43% of young people go into HE; in Norfolk it is a pitiful 28%. It is our responsibility to bridge that gap. Higher education is expensive so we would launch a Scholarship Scheme to pay the tuition fees for 50 young people from low income families. We are not here just to provide a service but also an opportunity for everyone to succeed. Our county's future rests in the hearts, minds, drive and imagination of our young people.

All parties talk about devolving power, but little is ever relinquished. A Lib Dem Council would see communities assuming more power and influence. We would introduce divisional budgets of £10,000 per Division - in the first year to just a quarter of us - giving communities the opportunity to work with their councillors on projects meeting a number of criteria, such as being environmentally friendly. This measure would increase democratic accountability and help build communities.

It is to our communities we must look to quell the perfect storm of an ageing population coupled with rising costs of care. For too long we have ignored these grey skies. Our Adult Social care crisis did not occur overnight. It was there well before the Careforce scandal. We have known for years that prevention is better than cure. Too often we have prioritized short term savings over long term benefits. We cannot delay any longer. Now is the time to push forward the preventative agenda. So a Lib Dem Council would retain the bathing subsidy of £54k - it is preventative. We would also retain the £200k spent on voluntary sector contracts providing preventative activities. A quarter of that would be focussed on working with communities to build an enduring capacity to deliver their own care. We need to move from care in the community to care with the community. Our project would look at using existing resources: village halls, community groups and residents to provide social activities, meals and basic home care with the Council acting as a facilitator. We need to confront problems of isolation and despondency before they descend into expensive specialized care. I can think of many examples in my division where communities themselves support those in need and we must capture that spirit. If the Council can be a facilitator of community care we not only improve the lives of the vulnerable but also free up resources to provide better care for those who need it most. We would also be strengthening social cohesion, a weakness identified in the CAA Report. There would be many other spin offs from stronger communities. Involvement for example in the challenge to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies and more understanding of the needs of the disabled - here we would also invest £40k to support access work.

Our Capital Spending proposals support our themes of building communities and bridging the inequality gap. County Farms have long vexed this administration. We would allocate £600k capital to spend on infrastructure; better storage and yields would bring better prices and higher rents benefiting farmers and the council and protecting our countryside. We would finance this by selling 200acres to raise £1.2 million; there are sufficient small parcels of land that can be sold without threatening the integrity of the Estate. The remaining £600k would be allocated to projects such as Housing with Care or a much needed residential facility for girls with behavioural difficulties to improve the lives of the vulnerable. We have already identified one opportunity. Holt Study Centre has cottages which could be used for looked after children needing short term accommodation. That would free up places elsewhere, enabling us to use fewer expensive out of county placements. Nor would we abandon our vulnerable coastal communities. We would spend £800k on state of the art Flood Sirens still leaving General Balances above £14million.

The Council's publicity machine promotes the story of sound financial management. What it forgets is the estimated £11 million lost in Iceland, £2.5 million spent on aborted Contract A and around £3 million to be spent on bailing out Adult Social Services this year. We believe the Council spends too much on publicity and so would reduce the corporate communications budget of £1.143 million by £167k and cut publishing expenditure across all departments by 10%, creating a further saving of £580k. Now is not the time to spend resources on glossy publications but rather on frontline services. Our Corporate reduction is predicated on 2 "Your Norfolk's" rather than 4 and fewer press releases. Surely by now we should have some joint communications arrangements with other public sector bodies. As an example do the good people of Breckland really need 4 magazines from the County and 6 from the District? Communications though is but one example of the failure of this Council to work with partners to save money on back office functions. ICT, H.R, Finance, Customer Enquiries we have heard all the talk but seen little action. Completing our savings, we would also take a slice - £25k representing 33% - from the Chairman's Entertainment Budget; fewer cheaper receptions and fewer chauffeur driven journeys.

Our proposals are about bridging the inequality gap by providing opportunities and protecting the vulnerable. They are about investing in our communities to achieve social and economic benefits and financial savings. By setting the CT increase at 1.86% residents would also retain more of their money than they would under the Conservatives

We hear a lot about doing more with less but we need too to do more with what we have and make the financial reserves work for Norfolk people. First time home buyers represent the lifeblood of our economy, without them much of the economy dries up. Mortgage lenders now demand higher deposits than ever. So we would help people tackle this issue by matching their savings with a loan of up to £7,500 for a first home deposit. This won't help speculators but will help those Norfolk residents trapped paying rents that are higher than a mortgage and stimulate economic activity. This would show a council not just listening to people's problems but acting on them. We would fund this by accessing up to £1 million of the £4 million held in the Repairs and Reserve Fund and anticipate helping 200 home buyers to achieve their ambition.

The nature of politics is that we will never agree on all issues. In recent years though we have seen our proposals regarding rural fire cover, work experience, restorative justice and travel budgets be adopted and start to make a positive impact. It is in that light that I have made this speech, not to just to criticise but to provoke alternative ways of thinking.

In conclusion I put before this council not just a budget, but some challenges. The challenge to accept transparency, scrutiny and debate and to ensure Members are here not to be served but to serve. The challenge to grasp the preventative agenda alongside its communities and to protect the vulnerable and the environment .Finally the challenge to work as an agent for opportunity and to take the initiatives we have proposed to help bridge the gap between rich and poor in Norfolk.

I move the amendment which will now be circulated.

Thank You.

• 2010
  1
  • Jan
  • Feb
    1
  • Mar
  • Apr
  • May
  • Jun
  • Jul
  • Aug
  • Sep
  • Oct
  • Nov
  • Dec
• 2011
• 2012

• Feb 15, 2010
  • Budget Speech 2010