Lib Dems: “Guildford’s missed opportunity to improve services”

Liberal Democrat Borough Councillors have condemned the Conservatives' rejection oftheir budget proposals as a missed opportunity to improve services whilst still freezingcouncil tax. At the budget-setting meeting of Guildford Borough Council last Thursday,Liberal Democrats proposed:

• to cut the cost of senior management and consultants and spend the money onimproving front-line environmental services instead

• to scrap the Council's 'About Guildford' newspaper, and spend more on services forolder people, including re-opening the Riverside Centre.

The proposal was defeated by the Conservative majority on the Council.
Speaking at the Council meeting, Lib Dem Group Leader Cllr Fiona White said "At timeslike this when all councils are looking at huge reductions in central government grantkeeping a senior management team just to serve Guildford is a luxury our residentscannot afford. We would ask the senior management team to recognise the situationresidents are in and to reduce their own salaries by 10%. The savings achieved could beused to meet another of our residents' priorities - that of improving the environment bycleaning it up."

Cllr White said the council should listen to Guildford residents, who had told Lib Demcouncillors they wanted to protect services for older people. Speaking in support ofre-opening the Riverside Centre and freezing the cost of the Handy Person Scheme,Cllr White said "The decisions which this council has taken in the past to not support AgeConcern in running the Riverside Centre and almost immediately afterwards to close downthe North Place Day Centre in the town has really upset all sections of the population, notjust those who used the services. Also, the Handy Person scheme is highly valued andsupports the aims of all levels of government to enable people to live independently intheir own homes for longer."

Cllr White pointed out that this could be paid for by scrapping 'About Guildford', which isnow seen as a political publication and should not be financed by taxpayers' money.
Cllr Sarah Di Caprio, Lib Dem councillor for Holy Trinity, supported the proposal,saying "I'm proud of the fact that the Lib Dems are looking to reopen the Riverside Centre.The closure of that centre, coupled with that of North Place and the removal earlier of theShuttle Bus, are a real legacy for this Conservative administration - a sad indictment foran administration that's failed Guildford residents."

Cllr Di Caprio added "Residents say to us that a priority for them is an improvedenvironment - better refuse and recycling, cleaner streets. The department that carriesthis out does a good job but stretched resources have left this failing in certain areas.We would use savings from the shared management structure to improve this service -whether equipment, staffing, training, or improved collection in hard to reach areas."