By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
The leader of Nottinghamshire County Council Ben Bradley says there is “no silver bullet” to solving the ongoing cost of living crisis for residents.
It comes after a motion calling for the authority to write to the Government calling for the upcoming National Insurance rise to be scrapped was voted down at County Hall.
Responding to the motion, Cllr Bradley, who is also Mansfield’s Conservative MP, said the county council doesn’t need to “write letters to show how much we care” about residents.
The motion was submitted by the Independent Alliance and successfully amended by the Labour Group to also call for the rise to be replaced by a windfall tax on North Sea oil companies currently recording large profits.
However, a heated 90-minute debate saw councillors clash over the motion, with both opposition groups accused of “showboating” and the Conservative administration labelled “disingenuous” for their stances on the issue.
The ruling Conservative group did not support the motion and said there are other ways of helping residents with surging gas, electricity, fuel, food, water and phone bills.
But opposition members drew on increasing numbers of families across Nottinghamshire falling into poverty and rising usage of food banks to say more needed to be done to help the county’s poorest.
It comes as gas and electricity price surges come into effect from April 1.
Speaking during the debate, Cllr Mike Pringle (Lab), who proposed Labour’s amendment to include the windfall tax, said: “We’re talking about real life, not about hysteria or something in the future we can’t see.
“We can leave here, we can go home and go into the areas directly affected by this. Most people who will be affected [by the cost of living crisis] are those working hard, possibly with two jobs and on low pay.
“These are the people this is directed at, and this amendment actually allows the Government to continue receiving funding without there being a financial negativity.
“There is strength in this chamber voting unanimously in support of our residents.”
But members of the Conservative group did not support the idea of writing to the Chancellor calling for the financial changes to be made.
Cllr Bruce Laughton (Con), deputy leader of the authority, said there is “no point” in writing to Whitehall because letters very rarely get responses from the Government – stating there are other ways to help struggling residents.
This includes utilising Ben Bradley’s dual role as Mansfield’s MP, something the council leader says he has already been raising with ministers.
Cllr Bradley admitted more needs to be done to help people struggling with rising costs, but said the authority is already doing a lot of work to offer help and guidance as bills increase next month.
He added: “To suggest anybody doesn’t care or doesn’t wish to act is just incorrect when faced with the sheer volume of projects not just in recent months but over years, introduced both by the Government and this council.
“We should be proud of these things. There is no silver bullet, no perfect answer here. The idea that if the Chancellor stopped the National Insurance rise everybody would feel so much better off instantly is not the case.
“We would just have to find funding from somewhere else for social care, for hospital backlogs and other things.
“We’re not here to write letters to prove how virtuous we are. We have levers here, the Government has levers and I’m confident it is using them.”
But Cllr Jason Zadrozny (Ash Ind), who submitted the original motion, believed it should have been given cross-party support.
He said: “We need to say this is a unanimous decision of the council. People are struggling, they’re worried about feeding themselves or whether they can heat their homes.
“This is a genuine crisis and I think it would have been excellent to have some unanimity, it’s not about a letter – it’s about showing the Government it needs to act in a more comprehensive way.”
The motion was voted down following a recorded vote, with 27 votes in favour and 35 against.
