Pre-Election Spending Row

With the election around the corner, West Berkshire councillors draw their swords

WITH the small matter of West Berkshire's finances out of the way, our esteemed councillors now turn to the really important issue; getting themselves re-elected.

Residents across the district will go to the polls on May 5 to decide who they want running their wards, and following the rubber stamping of the council's budget for the next year, this week the Liberal Democrats took a swipe at the ruling party to kick things off.

A press release on Tuesday by the Liberal Democrats illustrated how their party intended to keep youth clubs open and halt the closure of five day centres for vulnerable people, two controversial decisions the Conservative administration have made based on a 28 per cent budget cut over the next four years.

The leader of the opposition Jeff Brooks (Lib Dem, Thatcham West) said: “The residents of West Berkshire can now see that they have a clear choice in May.

“They can re-elect a Conservative Council keen to push through massive cuts in frontline services. Or they can choose the Liberal Democrat alternative of maintaining vital services by cutting only backroom staff and unnecessary waste”.

Not to be outmanoeuvred, leader of the council Graham Jones (Con, Lambourn) pointed to investment in services despite the heavy cuts in Government funding.

And he dismissed the opposition's proposals as lacking realism and imagination.

“In the main, they consisted of further salami slicing but with no indication of how services would be affected or how many more staff would see their jobs put at risk.

“The challenges that we face in producing a balanced budget in the next few years will be significant. We shall, though, continue to protect the elderly and the vulnerable and not allow key infrastructure to be put at risk.”

There are currently 36 elected Conservative councillors and 15 Liberal Democrat councillors over the 30 wards, with one role vacant due to the recent death of Keith Lock (Lib Dem, Mortimer).

Aside from the 114,973 residents currently registered to vote, there is also estimated to be around 1,400 over 18s who are entitled to ballot but are not yet registered.