Liverpool Greens Vote Against Cuts

This is an updated post from earlier, hence the title change. The full text of today's amendment being put forward by Liverpool's Green councillors is at the bottom of this post. In summary we identified 7 cuts that could be avoided if Liverpool, a Labour council, would raise council tax by 3.5%

I've just tweeted that our two councillors voted against the cuts following a text message from Cllr John Coyne. I'm therefore certain that our amendment was not passed.

There will be a final point at which Labour in Liverpool might possibly reverse its current trajectory of accepting the government's 2.5% "bribe" to freeze council tax this year. Let's be clear what that means. In the following year there will be 2.5% less revenue than there would have been otherwise. That means there will be £4 million less for Liverpool City Council to spend on its services that year (and every following year).

What we are proposing is a 3.5% council tax rise (inflation at year end of 2011 was 4.2% so this is below the inflation rate we've had this year) which would have raised an additional £1.6 million this year and therefore mean a further £5.6 million would have been available to spend next year.

It seems that the local Labour leadership is on the wrong trajectory. I sincerely hope that the many good Labour councillors there are in Liverpool can put forward and win the argument, within their own party, about why they should raise council tax. There is just one chance left for what is the right decision for Liverpool. Sadly, it is too late for the services below, which will now experience cuts as listed.

I don't yet know if any Labour councillors abstained (I hope so). If you didn't, we'll hold you to account in the coming years. The Lib Dems, apart from their gimmick over the contingency fund, have no real alternative to offer in Liverpool. We'll have to be the voice of real opposition from now on.

The Green amendment that was not accepted:

"Delete action EW3, thus retaining Bulky Bobs as a free service - cost £260,000.

Delete action C5, thus retaining £900,000 local authority contribution to child and adolescent mental health - cost £200,000

Mitigate action C7 and retain some grant provision for school uniforms in cases of severe hardship, for example where the child of a low income family needs to buy a second uniform after a change of school, following exclusion or otherwise, or in cases where a low income family needs to buy a uniform for more than one child in an academic year - cost £200,000.

Delete action C9, thus retaining £176,000 for teenage pregnancy advice service - cost £76,000.

Delete action C10, thus retaining £258,000 local authority funding for support to parents with disabled children - cost £108,000.

Delete action C24, thus retaining support for ethic minority, traveller and asylum seekers' children - cost £95,000.

Delete action ASC8, thus retaining local authority support of £1,900,000 for older people in sheltered housing - cost £300,000.

The total costs of those amendments would be £1,239,000.

Increase council tax in 2012/13 by 3.5% thus foregoing the government "incentive" of 2.5%.

The balance of £361,000 should be placed in reserves.

Having decided to increase Council Tax by 3.5%, the net effect of that decision after the additional costs of the above changes, should be the availability of £4,361,000 to pay into reserves in 2013/14 and again in 2014/15. Council should consider using reserves to mitigate cuts to services, after consultation, or to reintroduce services."