Tory councillors attack Labour over jobs cuts

I have read the complaints from Labour councillors about the planned job cuts within B&NES Council with interest.

Whilst Labour says they would cut spending in other areas to 'postpone' half the redundancies for a year, they have given absolutely no solutions to the long-term financial squeeze facing the council.

Like Gordon Brown's Government, they would rather bury their heads in the sand and put off the tough decisions to another day.

Readers may have seen a recent report by the BBC which showed that councils up and down the country are expecting cuts to their Government grant in the order of 15 per cent, the same figure assumed here in B&NES.

The BBC's survey also shows that, like B&NES, other local authorities are also having to look at staffing levels in order to increase efficiency in tough times. The 80 or so posts likely to be lost in B&NES pale in comparison with the thousands of jobs planned to be cut in other areas, which add up to 25,000 nationally.

So with councils the length of Britain having to tighten their belts and make tough spending choices, why does Labour believe B&NES can be any different?

Perhaps it is because they feel that attacking job losses will distract attention from who has actually caused the problems in our country, Labour's own Gordon Brown?

Perhaps Labour councillors believe voters will forget the only reason any job losses are necessary is because of the massive national debt built up by Gordon Brown which we will have to pay back in the coming years.

Labour can continue with their games, but I do not believe voters with thank them come polling day.

COUNCILLOR GORDON WOOD Conservative, Saltford

In their desperate attempt to cling on to power at the General Election, it is becoming increasingly clear that the Labour Party in B&NES is willing to put forward any half-truth it can to rubbish opponents.

Take Labour's attempt to claim credit for the introduction of free-swimming for disadvantaged children in B&NES. What Labour councillors do not point-out is that the Government failed in its pledge to fund free-swimming for ALL under-16s. The Government said it would fully-fund the scheme, but then offered less than half the money needed to do so. In fact, when the council asked Government if it could use the limited money on offer to target disadvantaged children, this was not allowed.

Due to this lack of Government support, at the council's budget meeting the Conservatives tabled plans for enough funding to provide free swimming for children eligible for free school meals. Labour councillors, despite trying to claim the credit for this, included no such plans in their budget proposals tabled at the cabinet budget meeting. To then trumpet this as a success for Labour is misleading.

Take also Labour's complaints about job losses within the council. Unsurprisingly, Labour fail to highlight the fact that the only reason the council is having to tighten its belt is due to the massive Government debts which Gordon Brown has built up.

Labour Councillors elsewhere seem to recognise this, so why don't those in B&NES?

Labour-led Kirklees Council is reported as planning to cut over 1,000 jobs, putting the 80 posts in B&NES into perspective.

The residents of B&NES recognise that tough decisions will have to be made in coming years in order to bring the public finances back into order.

COUNCILLOR PETER EDWARDS Conservative, Publow & Whitchurch