The blame game continued at Gravesham Council last week as councillors argued over who was responsible for Gravesham's failing budget. Reporter ALAN WOODS was there to capture what happened at the lively council meeting.
COUNCILLORS unanimously voted to leave John Burden’s Labour council the job of redrawing the failing budget after a £600,000 overspend.
But there was one question ringing in everyone's ears when the two-and-a-half-hour meeting finally came to an end.
"Why did every council in Kent introduce cuts in this year’s budget following central government grant cuts - apart from Gravesham Council?"
Labour inherited the budget from the Conservative party, lead by Councillor Mike Snelling, when it came to power in May.
Council leader Councillor John Burden said: “It is transparent in the budget put forward that no allowance or consideration for the cuts was put in place and that is a fundamental misunderstanding of council management.
“We have heard many times from the previous leader that they were bankers or accountants and they understand finance.
“The budget was flawed and did not stack up from day one.
“Nothing was done to prepare this budget for what was to come and there should be a clear apology.”
Councillor Mike Snelling defended his decisions saying: “I am not going to apologise for working with a chief executive I admired and a budget that at the time, we agreed with.
“We followed the budget that was recommended to us and now we get to make a decision between us.”
The unanimous verdict at the meeting approved in-principal a number of measures put forward by the Labour council to reduce the £600,000 overspend.
These included the possibility of job losses and a full review of services provided by the council.
An increase in town centre parking fees and the reintroduction of Saturday parking costs are also being considered.
A detailed report outlining the measures to be taken will be considered by the cabinet on November 14.
David Hughes - Chief Executive
"It is my belief the measures will reduce the over spend on the current year but it is necessary to urgently plan for how the budget can be reduced next year. The task is to close that gap and bring it down to zero."
Councillor Les Howes - Labour
"Why didn’t we cut things previously? All the other council’s did. Maybe they should have gone on to Amazon and bought themselves the Ladybird book of Maths and Tables."
Councillor John Loughlin - Labour
"The bodies that had been so carefully hidden began to decompose. You couldn’t open a cupboard in the Civic Centre without a body falling out. Councillor Snelling’s budget fell apart and he was found out."
Councillor Bryan Sweetland - Conservative
"I would like to see a reduction in some of the councillor allowances as we are all to blame. It should not just be the residents and shops and traders who take the brunt of this mismanagement.
"We are the first Kent council to be in a position like this. I hope you are all proud."
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