Conservative leader criticises cuts in Labour’s draft council budget

The leader of the Conservative group on Brighton and Hove City Council has criticised cuts in the draft budget which he said were at the expense of local people.

Councillor Alistair McNair said that the council’s financial problems were the result of a double whammy – a Labour government and a Labour council.

This is what he said …

I want to tell a story of U-turns, broken promises, inequality and cuts. A story of Labour in power. It’s not a work of fiction. It’s our lived experience.  And in this city, we have a double whammy – not only a Labour government but a Labour council.

We have now had almost two years of a Labour government. It feels a lot longer, doesn’t it? Keir Starmer is the most unpopular Prime Minister in history.

Even his own party don’t want him. But none of them have the guts to stand up to him because they realise they would be even more unpopular. There’s Angela Rayner, on her Lilo, incapable of apologising for her £40,000 tax dodge, hoping for Peter Kyle’s seat. Is that the best they can do?

It’s not just Keir Starmer who is unpopular – it is the Labour party and its broken promise of change that is unpopular.

Change is the one thing Labour are good at. Let’s call it by its proper Labour name: the U-turn. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m glad Keir often U-turns – things would be even worse.  But it just proves Labour turns as often as a weathervane on Brighton beach.

What U-turns have there been?

Winter Fuel Payments – remember how Labour wanted to freeze your grandparents? Well, they backtracked on that – a bit. But energy bills are still the highest in western Europe. Where’s the £300 cut Labour promised?

Labour planned to cut £5 billion from the welfare budget – why?  Because Labour promised to get people into jobs. To grow the economy. Now we’re paying for six million people to stay at home on welfare benefits.  And unemployment keeps going up, doesn’t it?  It’s 5.2 per cent now. And the economy has flatlined.

Labour U-turned – a bit – on the family farm tax. But not enough. They’re U-turning on workers’ rights. Good. Because the one thing the jobs market needs right now is more costs. Not!

Labour promised not to increase taxes on working people. So what did they do? Increase national insurance for employers which in any normal person’s language means a tax on working people.  Which means fewer jobs as employers can’t afford to hire more people.

Labour have had to introduce a support package for pubs because Labour’s business rate hikes are killing off this industry.

The trade group UK Hospitality has said 1,000 restaurants, 600 hotels and 500 pubs could close this year as a result of tax changes and increases, with ‌pubs facing a 76 per cent average hike over the next three years as pandemic-related reliefs are removed. That will hit Brighton and Hove hard.

Labour have scaled back the promised £28 billion annual investment in green energy. Labour have dropped plans to nationalise energy, water and the Royal Mail.

So, people must be asking themselves. Why did I vote Labour? They’re just not very Labour are they? Of course, if they were more Labour, things would be even worse.

Those residents of Brighton and Hove who voted for Labour in the local elections in May 2023 must be wondering why they did so. They must be feeling let down. Because voting Labour has not led to greater prosperity for our city. Quite the opposite. It has led to greater poverty and social division. We have groups in this city going door-to-door pressuring residents to stop buying Israeli goods. This makes our Jewish community feel threatened. But they feel they can do this in our city. They aren’t listening to Labour’s message of equality and diversity.

There’s something called the Fairer Funding Review. Imagine – the Labour government has actually cut the council’s budget by shifting £5 million of our money to poorer regions. Not so fair on Brighton and Hove.

Where was this Labour council when our residents needed them? Whitehawk is in the top 10 per cent most deprived neighbourhoods in England.

Approximately 45 per cent of children in the area live in poverty, which is more than double the national average. Yet in this budget they are proposing to privatise the nursery provision in this area. And this Labour council fails to get an increase in council funding.

Things are so bad this Labour council has gone cap in hand to beg a Labour government for exceptional financial support to the tune of £15 million.

No wonder Labour councillors are resigning. Some see the light after a year or two – some after 50 years.

They are resigning because they can’t vote, surely, for this budget. What Labour councillor could? What Labour councillor would vote for a £9 million cut to adult social care?

What Labour councillor would vote to privatise nursery places? Yes, they want to save £50,000 by finding a private provider to take over Roundabout nursery. And this from a council that lobbies hard against academy chains.

And you may have noticed that more schools are becoming academies. They see the writing on the wall for council services.

What Labour councillor would vote to cut children’s pedestrian crossing training? And they admit there will be an impact on the safety of children, young people and families who walk to school.

What Labour councillor would vote to cut Youth Arts? Knowing full well that youth unemployment is rising fast under Labour. It’s 15 per cent – and is now higher than the EU average.

What Labour councillor would vote to cut libraries? And there will be more cuts to come.

What Labour councillor would vote to cut help for the homeless?

The Labour councillors in this chamber would.

Remember, these cuts are coming in because a Labour government has cut Brighton and Hove City Council’s budget.

These cuts are coming in because under Rachel Reeves, the UK economy has nosedived to 0.1 per cent last quarter. Labour’s tax and spend economy – not spending in Brighton and Hove, our devastating energy costs, has destroyed jobs.

What do Labour have to say about this budget? Councillor Jacob Taylor said: “This is a radical budget for an unprecedented crisis.”

It certainly is radical – radically bad – and a crisis … of Labour’s making.

So Labour is spending £112 million to build and buy new homes. Building new homes takes time.  There are residents living in Brighton and Hove right now who need help.

Look at the state of our social housing. We know residents with kitchens where the temperature is only 9C during the day. Freezing conditions.

It’s not going to help our schools many of which have massive deficits because of Labour’s mismanagement over many years. It’s not going to pay for new teachers to help today’s children. We are losing teachers in this city. Schools are closing.

There’s going to be a major expansion of council-owned temporary accommodation. They say it will give families stability while reducing long-term costs.

But who is going to live in this accommodation? Families who are living in Brighton or asylum-seekers? What guarantee do we have they will be genuine asylum-seekers?

There will £10 million to repair roads after years of neglect from this council. What that mostly means is filling potholes, not resurfacing.

And how long do these repairs last?  About as long as Angela Rayner in government. Councillor Muten doesn’t like us posting about potholes on Facebook. He doesn’t like the scrutiny. Patching doesn’t work. We need resurfacing on every road. Estimates from 85 councils project no overall increase in repairs in 2025-26.

They say they are modernising council services, saving money while improving access. Whenever has saving money meant improving services? Try phoning the council after 1.30pm. You can’t because the phone lines are closed. The phone lines are closed on Thursdays completely. Are there no problems on Thursday?

Labour says they are protecting neighbourhood services, including waste collection, street cleaning, parks and playgrounds.

But they want to cut waste collection to a fortnightly service. How is that improvement? And when the service is cut, jobs will follow.

They want to introduce car park fees at local parks. They’re closing libraries. How are they protecting neighbourhoods?

And, I quote, “a targeted £15 million request to the government, focused solely on accelerating investment in temporary accommodation and preventing homelessness.”

This is not a request – this is a begging bowl. If this council hadn’t got £15 million there would have been even more cuts.

What will happen next year? The Labour council wants to invest in temporary accommodation and prevent homelessness – so do we all.

But this Labour government has taken £5 million away from this city so they clearly don’t care. And this Labour council has to suck it up as part of the redistribution of wealth their government demands.

The council believes £10 million could purchase up to 200 homes for use as temporary accommodation. This is simply not enough money. Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? That’s probably only 30 homes at the prices in this city.

It’s not going to solve the problem. But Labour also wants to eliminate the profit margins paid to private landlords but without the private sector our homelessness will only worsen.

Why do we continue to call our city a City of Sanctuary when we can’t afford to house the people already on our waiting list? Is it a city of sanctuary only for those outside the city?

This budget is a budget of eye-watering austerity this city has never seen. It is also a budget of tax and fee increases that you and I have never experienced. Labour will try to blame others for this budget – but after two years of Labour it is squarely their own fault.

What with shops and pubs facing business-destroying tax rises, this Labour council seeks to add to their misery.

This council call their parking restructure “fair and simple”. What’s fair and simple about a 256 per cent increase in seafront parking?  We can kiss goodbye to more tourists coming to visit our pier.

What’s fair about 11-hour rates doubling?

What about zones in central Brighton north going up by 48 per cent?

What about the Lanes car park going up by 33 per cent?

They want to introduce paid parking in locations where free parking bays are in place.

Parking Permit costs will rise for residents, visitors, traders and businesses. The council report is clear: “This may create additional barriers and disadvantage for some older and disabled people who rely on private vehicles/visitors to access facilities and services.”

It’s not “may” – it will create disadvantage.

Labour wants to increase fees from commercial and green waste to reflect the actual activity. They know that the introduction of other charges could impact on residents’ uptake on garden waste.

Labour wants to cut £115,000 from the Adolescent Service. That is supporting young people at risk of exploitation, some of whom are at risk of becoming involved in the criminal justice system. Again, Labour is letting down young people.

Wellington House day centre for adults with learning disabilities is earmarked for closure. A Labour council, always bashing the private sector, will have to rely on six other providers in the independent sector. All for a proposed saving of just £400,000.

It’s not just those with a learning difficulty who may lose out but also the parents and carers when they get no respite from caring.

And what can Conservatives do about this budget? We will vote against it, as we have done for years.

How can anyone support a 4.99 per cent increase in council tax when we are getting less for our money? And we can submit four amendments which are here to help our residents.

Let me outline them because it shows what we consider important and what Labour considers unimportant.

The council funds 3.5 posts each for GMB and Unison. That’s seven union jobs local residents are paying for. That puts Brighton and Hove City Council number 20 out of 219 councils in terms of percentage of the payroll spent, and number 9 in the country for actual spend.

Now, union officials do an important job, especially when your employer is making you redundant like this council is. But just think what that money could be spent on instead.

Labour would never consider reducing Union representation because they are funded by the GMB. Together the GMB and Unison have a net budget of £431,000.

We propose shaving this to go some way to protecting our library services. Remember, Labour have already closed two libraries: Westdene and Hollingbury.

They are reducing hours in Hove library and Jubilee library. There will be more library cuts. Which is more important? Seven union jobs instead of five? Staff or residents? By protecting our libraries, we feel we can help both.

At least 60 library staff will be affected by these cuts. We are helping maintain access to books and services and warm spaces where Labour only cuts them.

Not only are Labour putting up car park fees – in some cases by 256 per cent – but they want to clobber residents and visitors when they spend a penny too.

Labour wants to introduce charges to high footfall public toilets. Not only are residents, visitors and tourists being clobbered by exorbitant parking charge increases, they now face being charged to use the loo.

Just when shops and businesses are really struggling with national insurance rises and a cost of living crisis, Labour bring in a charge that will hit the disabled, those with poor health and families.

Where’s the equality in that? It will only encourage them to go elsewhere to shop. And 50p per go isn’t enough to cover the costs of installing barriers and managing the charge. The charge will only go up.

Labour talk about protecting the homeless but leave them without recourse to facilities for washing and toilets. Conservatives would protect this essential service. By reducing union staff and “net zero” staff. We can help keep these toilets free.

Labour wants to reduce our kerbside bin collections to a fortnightly service. Now, you might argue that we already have a fortnightly service.

But joking aside, if they miss your collection, you’ll have to wait a month for the next one. What will families do? The rubbish will be piling up in the streets.

Residents will see a reduced service but they won’t see a cut in their council tax. Is Labour paving the way for a cut in the number of staff at Environmental Services?

There is one small but important and tangible difference we can suggest. By removing two posts from the net zero team – two council officers – we can stop the council charging for replacement bins.

We will reduce the financial burden on residents which has only got worse under Labour. You need a larger bin to help you cope with a fortnightly collection. We feel you should not be charged for this.

Can you believe this Labour council wants to cut funding to children’s pedestrian training? In Patcham and Hollingbury, we are often lobbied, quite rightly, by residents desperate to improve crossing points. Or rather, they want to redirect this money to fund Bikeability instead.

Are bikes more important than children’s road safety?  I doubt many mothers and fathers will agree with that. What will I tell the father of the child knocked down recently in Carden Hill?

How would we fund this? By charging a £2.50 a week instead of £1 to put your bike in a cycle hangar. I don’t think cyclists will mind putting their hands in their pockets for £2.50 per week if they know it’s going to help children cross the road safely.

Labour should be trying to protect children from cuts but this is a pattern – schools are struggling with smaller budgets, teachers are losing their jobs and now their youngest pupils are losing out from help with walking to school.

It will only lead to more children being driven to school and more parents feeling this council doesn’t care about children. Conservatives understand the importance of child pedestrian training and would reverse much of the cut.

Labour had to chance to submit their own amendments to their own budget. Last year, Labour councillors campaigned against library cuts – despite voting for them in their own budget.

So what’s Labour’s one and only amendment? Saving a community composting project. Of all the cuts – to libraries, to children’s services, to rubbish collections – Labour picked composting. It says it all.

As I end this history of U-turns, broken promises, inequality and cuts, we have just learnt that the government made a record £30.4 billion tax intake in January.

Why? Because of a surge in capital gains tax, employers’ national insurance contributions and higher income tax.

Labour is impoverishing us all. But for what? To increase public sector salaries? To fritter away on energy subsidies?

The question is – will Brighton and Hove residents see any of this money? Who is batting for our city? Not this Labour council, that’s for sure.

Only the Conservatives see real people when we look at our residents. We do not see them as a cash cow that needs milking.