As we near the end of November our attentions usually turn toward Christmas. For many, it will be difficult this year. With the terrible war in Ukraine sadly grinding on and energy prices at record levels, it will have an effect on all our pockets.
At Hastings Borough Council this time of the year is very busy, with senior management and politicians trying to set a budget for the following year. This year will be especially challenging. The Council is facing a gaping hole in its finances. To balance the books the Council will have to use a huge chunk of its general reserves to do so.
If the Council do not make drastic cuts to its services, it will only be a matter of time before the Council will be bankrupt and government inspectors have to step in - this is the stark message council officers give to councillors every finance meeting nowadays.
For the past 12 years the Labour group has been in control of the Council. The Conservatives in opposition have opposed many of the policy decisions which we believe have led to the Council being in the dire financial difficulty they face today. We have argued for the past four years that it is ludicrous for Labour to balance the books by using up our towns savings because it is obvious that eventually you will run out of money. Unfortunately, that’s the position the Council finds itself in now.
The Labour administration has said it wants to be open to more collaborative working now, especially around setting the budget. A consensus being necessary because, after the last election, Labour are now in the minority and cannot force the budget through alone.
While the Conservative group welcomes greater openness and transparency the current Cabinet and Leader system does not allow opposition councillors to properly introduce or influence policy in a meaningful way or take decisions collaboratively. We are not in a coalition.
Just to put this into context, the Labour group has removed both Conservative and Green party councillors from the Cabinet in the past 18 months. This has not led to greater openness and transparency and the only conclusion one can draw from this is the Labour group do not want to be collaborative when it comes to taking decisions at Cabinet level.
Since the Labour party ended their coalition with the Green party the Labour group have decided, as is their right, to run a minority administration. They will drive their own agenda and, as the largest party in opposition, we will be there to scrutinise their policy decisions. We will certainly not be collaborative in the extremely unpalatable decisions to come which we feel are a direct consequence of past Labour administrative failures.
