Minutes:
I have put an addendum at the beginning of my speech. It is: What a chaotic budget in Tory controlled Wokingham. All these errors and an additional £75 million of debt has been found in the last minute. If you check the figures, there is a £75million difference. What is going on?
For the first time in nearly 20 years, there is a serious challenge to the current Conservative administration. Local residents have an opportunity to choose an alternative way forward. Tonight, I want to present a Liberal Democrat vision and rationale for the future across the Wokingham Borough. The reasons we need change is because the current Conservative administration has acted more like cash strapped amateur speculators who have racked up £700 million of debt, than a Council administration who are there to provide services for their residents. The Conservatives have become complacent and arrogant in their approach to residents. Instead of providing services that residents want, they are providing services that the Council wants to provide and in the way, they want to provide them. Whenever the Council has been found to have done things incorrectly, for example, when they lost the Court of Appeal decision to Hare Hatch Sheeplands, or when they lost a vital Employment Tribunal, their response has been ‘oh it was an exceptional, bizarre result.’ This aloof response is not acceptable. The Council administration needs to learn from its mistakes and to act in a more appropriate manner in the future, instead the administration is in denial. This has to change for the sake of our residents. This Conservative Council rarely says sorry. The Liberal Democrats would put residents first.
The Tories have no forward thinking or overall strategy. Many proposals being presented are reactions to events. For example, Wokingham Borough Council closed both The Paddocks and Rose Street car parks in Wokingham as part of the Wokingham Town regeneration. Little or no thought was given to how suitable car parking capacity could be provided in the town centre area. Now in 2020, Wokingham Borough Council has been forced to buy back Denmark Street car park area, sold off by the previous Conservative administration. This is hardly joined up planning, and at what cost to the council tax paying residents?
There has been months of upheaval which has severely impacted local businesses and residents alike. The Conservative administration has treated residents’ petitions presented in this Council Chamber of the last couple of years, with utter distain. I am sure residents from Shinfield, Barkham and those supporting Hare Hatch Sheeplands remember how they were treated, and in effect, ignored, by this Conservative administration. This will change under a Liberal Democrat administration. The Budget being presented by the Conservatives tonight will be the Budget that the Liberal Democrats would have to use should there be a change of control at Council in May. It is recognised that the overall Budget, a 3.99% increase in council tax, made up of 1.99 council tax and 2% adult social care precept, is the highest possible without a referendum, we have no issue with this. However, the Liberal Democrats have a different set of priorities and would use supplementary estimates to move the financial resources around within the budget areas to enable an alternative set of priorities to be introduced. A number of these priorities will be presented by my colleagues in the Council Chamber here tonight.
Regarding the Capital Programme, it is like a curate’s egg: good in part but unworkable in others. There are individual lines in the Capital Programme that the Liberal Democrat Group can support, in fact have pressed for. This includes the £640,000 for the Polehampton library in Twyford, although to fully complete and equip this, more money may be required. Also, the £250,000 for the Montague Park Community Facility and many others.
A significant part of the roads programme has already been agreed and is in the process of being built and many more areas have cross party support. However, there a number of projects that the Liberal Democrats would like to introduce which have not been included in this Budget. We have a vision of a better run administration, which listens to our residents to enable us to provide the services that they want, within our budget constraints. Our vision – the culture of the Council must change. We would aim to make Wokingham Borough Council more resident focused, one of the best, if not the best local authority in England. The Liberal Democrats would support an ethical position on finance which is open and available for scrutiny, be at the forefront of tackling environmental matters, including the climate emergency, not just soundbites but thought through plans in a structured coordinated, quantifiable manner to achieve real results. We would rebuild our Children’s Services department so that it is better able to assist our local children and schools, with a future aim of making this one of the best in the country. We would focus the Council on providing the right number and type of homes for our local people. This includes the provision of truly affordable homes. Our focus will be on 1, 2, 3 bedroomed homes for local families and single people and the provision of 1 and 2 bedroomed bungalows for our older residents to move into so that they are able to downsize and stay in our area. We would establish Wokingham Borough as a vibrant centre for the arts and culture. The better provision for adult social services and improve support for carers. We believe we are ready, open and able to take on the running of this Council.