By Matt Jarram, Local Democracy Reporter
The councillor in charge of finance at Nottingham City Council described why he believes voters continue to put their faith in the ruling Labour group despite cuts to services and ongoing financial problems.
The Labour-run authority is being monitored by a Government board after the demise of Robin Hood Energy, which left taxpayers with an anticipated £38m bill.
The council was also issued an extremely rare Section 114 notice after it ‘unlawfully’ spent more than £15m of ringfenced cash for council house tenants on general services instead.
The council must now convince the monitoring board it can manage its finances or commissioners could be called in to run the authority in the future.
The council has yet to hear back from Government on its latest progress despite setting out a balanced budget and four year plan on where £38m will be saved.
Cllr Sam Webster (Lab), Portfolio Holder for Finance and Resources, said difficult decisions had to be made when closing a £28m funding gap in the council’s finances this year.
Proposals include closing five of nine city children’s centres and reducing the number of youth workers in the city. Council Tax will rise by 2.99 per cent and council tenants’ rents will rise by 4.1 per cent.
But the council says it will invest £230m in its housing stock over a five-year period, with more than 300 new homes planned in places like Bestwood and Clifton.
It also plans to improve the south side of the city and ensure Nottingham’s new Central Library and bus station is opened.
At a full council meeting on Monday, March 7, Cllr Webster said: “Despite a slight improvement from the Government this year, despite a decade of eye-watering Government cuts, you can see that our city gets £100m less each year to fund local public services than it did back in 2013.
“The more they have cut the more councils in all parts of the country and of all political persuasion have had little choice to try and desperately make up some of the difference. This extreme pressure is thanks to chronic underfunding by our Government.
“However, Nottingham does not support this Government. We are a proud city of diversity and respect and of wanting to help people regardless of wealth or status.
He added: “Even when the Conservatives win the majority in the House of Commons, they have fewer councillors here in Nottingham than ever before.
“The reason is the people here know – they know what the Government has done and how much has been slashed. ”
During the last city council local election on May 2 2019, Labour won 62 per cent of the vote and 50 of the 55 seats on the council.
Opposition leaders at the city council objected to parts of Cllr Webster’s analysis.
Conservative group leader, Cllr Andrew Rule, said: “The position would be far less uncertain if the council was still not subject to the enduring legacy of Robin Hood Energy and the impact of its failing on council reserves.”
Nottingham Independents leader, Cllr Kevin Clarke added: “Yes. Covid has made things worse. Yes, budgets from central government are far from adequate – but you are treating the people of Nottingham with contempt when you are trying to pretend you have no part to play.”
