Tuesday 25 November 2014

Budget Day

Times are tough at Cornwall Council. I accept that hard decisions need to be made. But today it was as if Cornwall Council was in its own bubble.

The Council invited 10 year old Leon Remfrey to present his library petition today (and not at the October meeting as he requested) when it was already too late to amend the Budget specifically to deal with his concerns on reductions in the library service.

It presented a cobbled together last minute amendment to help address concerns over the proposed 55% reduction in the winter road gritting budget (646 kms instead of 1400 kms of road gritted).  Instead it would reduce the maintenance of road gulleys and therefore increase the risk of road flooding.

The administration proposes large increases in parking charges and the introduction of on road parking charges but it will continue to allow staff to park for free until at least 2017 as a result of its deal with the unions.

The only area of the Council that remains uncut is the cost of councillors.  Nineteen "focus groups" later but no efficiencies have yet been made and almost none are proposed.  As a member of the press said to me, the Council do not do irony!

That is the Cornwall Council bubble.

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