Labour has set out how it is meeting the challenge of finding £25m in cuts imposed by the Conservative Government on local council services in Brighton and Hove.
Council Leader Cllr Warren Morgan said:
We have listened and we have acted. We have closed the £9 million budget gap we were faced with when taking office, and we are putting forward a lawful, balanced and responsible budget in the face of huge Tory cuts to local councils. I call on the other parties to back it.”
“We have worked hard to reduce the cuts to services like the park rangers, to protect the bus services and community grants that people rely on, and to ensure that our vital care services have the funds they need to do their work.”
“The Government has forced all city and county councils into a 4% council tax increase, and into making deep cuts to the services we all use, so I have joined with politicians from across the political spectrum in saying enough is enough, this can’t go on.”
“I hope the Government will have a change of heart, but in the meantime we will give as much certainty as we can through a four-year budget plan, get as many innovative ideas as we can through our City Innovation Challenge, and focus what resources the city has on helping people who are struggling financially, especially through the work of our Fairness Commission.
“There’s no escaping the very challenging funding situation for our day-to-day services presented in our council budget today, but there is another story – one of ambition, innovation and investment -which I talk about here.”
