The Conservative group on Isle of Wight County Council have reacted to Budget proposals put forward by the Alliance Group by claiming that wasteful Council spending has led to price hikes.
They have further accused their political opponents of needlessly causing cuts to vital services. The group of 17 Councillors have also taken the Council to task for writing-off sums they say could have been recovered, such as the £370,000 spent on the cancelled Tour of Britain contract.
Rises in parking charges and costs to bereavement services are some of the price hikes coming in for criticism, together with a cut in support for people forced to travel to the mainland for medical appointments.
Conservative Group Leader, Councillor Joe Robertson, has said:
“I acknowledge the tough financial circumstances that the Council are operating in. I am pleased to see a proposal has finally been put forward notwithstanding it is wrapped up in the usual anti-government rhetoric from the Alliance who claim to be non-political.
“The Budget makes grim reading because the Alliance-led Council has not kept its own house in order. No amount of complaining and pointing the finger at others will mask the fact that the Council is squandering money it already has, and writing-off money it is owed, while hiking Council tax to the maximum for hard-pressed Islanders.”
“The Council failed to ask for a single penny back of the £370,000 it spent on the Tour of Britain contract that was cancelled last year. At the same time the Budget proposes to hike fees in bereavement services by £300,000 and cut support to those forced to travel to the mainland for medical appointments.
“The Council is currently spending £1.3 million on replacing windows, heating and lighting at County Hall which sits half empty and could be redeveloped for affordable homes and retail. Meanwhile the Alliance want to hike parking charges to the tune of £340,000 which amounts to a tax on high street shopping at a time when small businesses are trying to recover from the effects of Covid. The Council’s housing company set up to benefit from low-interest Government money remains dormant with no business plan and not a penny borrowed which could deliver hundreds of new social homes like we are seeing in Portsmouth. Instead the Alliance proposes spending £700,000 of the Council’s own cash to re-house people in temporary accommodation.”
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Councillor Chris Quirk, the Conservative’s Finance Spokesman, has said:
“Presenting a balanced Budget is all very well but with an over-spend and raid on reserves last year to the tune of £6 million, what assurances can the Alliance give that they will actually stick to the Budget this year? Since being elected nearly two years ago they have depleted the Council’s reserves and they cannot afford another substantial over-spend in the coming year. That is the hard reality of failing to manage the Council’s finances properly.”
The Budget is due to be debated and voted on at the next meeting of the Full Council on 22nd February.
Well if there’s any group that knows about wasting money it’s the Conservatives. How much does the taxpayer spend on pampering illegal migrants each week?? Do remind us again?
Remember them promising how Brexit would allow us to “take back control” of our borders?
Remember how Remain campaigners said Brexit would actually make illegal migration harder to control?
How did you vote?
Best part is: remember how all EU countries easily re-enacted thigh border controls during COVID? Because it’s something you can do, even if you’re part of EU? France did it even earlier after some terrorist attack.
It was always the choice of government (mostly Tories) to let so many even legal migrants in. EU never had controls. UK had to willingly sign up for the free movement.
Expect, now, they’d rather deflect the blame onto organisations like the RNLI instead of their own incompetence.
And the Gammons are lapping it up.
As the saying goes, “you can’t educate pork”.
It’s not the Brexit vote that is at fault for the illegal immigration. It is the useless Conservative Government and its Civil Servants who have refused to action Brexit.
Oh, do wake up and smell the coffee.
Brexit was never, ever, ever, going to stop, or even reduce, illegal migration. It was always going to make the problem worse.
You were lied to. Suckered. Scammed.
And you swallowed it. Hook. Line. Sinker.
Despite being told this was exactly what was going to happen.
And you are still believing the lies.
Smiffy, you obviously have not got over losing the vote, you will undoubtedly take this perceived ijustice to the grave, and I do not suppose the reaminers told one lie, perhaps you would like me to remind you of that huge list.
Bit rich coming from someone who’s party came to power with a UK debt of just over £1 trillion, and have managed to almost double it to £1.82 trillion so far. They promised austerity would clear the country of debt by 2012. Liars. Only their rich friends have made any money, and you all know it, yet, you’re all going to back them at the next election. Maybe you just enjoy being the laughing stock of the economic world?
If you look at the figures it is pretty amazing that the debt is so low considering the costs assoicated with covid, business support alone accounted for 587 million and that was just the tip of the iceburg, could any other party have got us through coivd any better, I doubt it.
Jesus, the world is laughing at you BB. £587 million is a tiny fraction of £1.82 trillion.
Its ok slamming them but what are you going to do about it?
Expose them expose how much and were/why its been wasted. You work for the people so grow a pair and give us facts
This is the Tory way isn’t it? Look at the money wasted in Westminster on sub standard PPE.
Extortionate sums of money are paid to contractors to complete jobs that seem to me to be vastly over priced. The council doesn’t care, it’s not their money! It’s the residents on this island who pay the council tax. Well done to the Conservative Group for bringing this to the attention of the public.
Nobody can argue that £106Billion and rising isn’t worth it for getting to Birmingham 20 minutes faster.
Just think how many boing747s they could have bought with £106billion snd sent the illegal immigrants back to there homeland
Approximately 3 and a half.
Like the Tories hold the moral high ground. Con-servatives are finished. Anything they have to say is irrelevant.
Alas, Con-servatives are far from finished – still plenty of sheeple out there. There are even some, believe it or not, who think someone called johnson would make a good Prime Minister.
Although I don’t disagree with Joe here, it’s pretty rich rich the conservatives giving people advice on not wasting money? Did someone say PPE?
would be really curious to know to current staff occupancy rate of county hall at the moment.
The Conservatives blaming someone else for tour of Britain. Didn’t they sign that deal? And as I understand it, the council gets first claim on the 2024 event anyway.
Why should this loss to taxpayers be written off so easily. As to first choice on the 2024 event, many taxpayers would disagree with any further potential losses. This Alliance, has wasted money on many fronts and used secrecy to hide other inconvenient truths.
The Tories are hypocritical. But those in power when the money is paid out, are responsible.
Conservatives? A party thanks to which I have to buy private health insurance every time I travel to EU cause I no longer have EHIC, and I had to pay import duty on a gift from my mother in France because sweater happened to cost more than some threshold, not to mention more tax on French cheeses, Italian wines and so on, basically anything that comes from Europe?
Oh, piss off, your Brexit costs me way more than any of the things you talk about here.
FYI: well-kept secret – the EHIC has been replaced by the GHIC (Global, not European. Big improvement, eh?). Also free, pretty much the same facilities and entitlement. And your EHIC is valid until its expiry date.
Luckily the Europeans aren’t as peevish and insular as certain other nations…
Because the Tories never raised council tax by the maximum allowed and never, ever cut services when they were in power, right?
The bottom line is that the Tories cut the amount that local councils get from central government by a massive amount. Seely actually voted for these cuts, twice. That is why the Council is struggling and the Tories would be struggling exactly the same if they were in charge at county hall.
Still waiting for Soundbite Seely to make good on his promised “Island Deal” to make up for the cuts he voted for.
> hike parking charges to the tune of £340,000 which amounts to a tax on high street shopping
Conservatives spreading fake news instead of looking into research that shows pedestrianised areas are way better for businesses? Typical Tories. Awaiting your Brexit benefits of £350m/week for NHS that you equally thoroughly researched, LOL.
I think we need to look seriously at the council gravy train, Isle of wight population 140 thousand give or take and has 40 councillors, Devon for instance, population 1.1 million and only 60 councillors, IOW councillors cost 550 thousand in basic alowances without the other add ons plus the additional reveniue they get from being town councillors which most seem to be, if it was on a population ratio basis we could run the island with less than 20 councillors and think of all the money the coucil tax payers would save.
Every single town & parish councillor on the Island is an unpaid volunteer.
Who pays there expenses
Fixed that for ya.
Every single town & parish councillor on the Island is an unpaid waffle merchant.
AND many are co-opted, unelected, and on a self righteous power trip.
I do not remember voting them in ?? I always thought the people ruled… obvious now that we do not.. it seems…
Keep spending the money and look after us poor unemployed people.Wish you could put up council tax more to increase my benefits..I only get £380 a week and I am struggling with the cost of living crisis.I can only go to the pub twice a week now instead of four times.Ihave had to make cutbacks.The people with money should pay more to support me.
I love the humour but behind it lies the truth, most people on benefits are there because they are better off than working for a living, it’s a broken system and like immigration, is not going to be fixed before we are turned into a third world country
Nice one MM, but irony probably not noticed by some users of this site- if it was irony?