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Go
for Gold!
Better management of public money
Labour's management of council
finances over the past decade has been disastrous. During the
1990s there were losses of more than £2 million by the Council's
Direct Service Organisations. There were years where the council
cut back on services only to find it had a budget surplus at
the end of the year.
More recently, the council
has had a succession of damning reports on its financial management
from the District Auditor. Many of the comments have echoed the
warnings of the Liberal Democrats over the years. In particular,
we have pointed out.
- the need for regular budget information
to councillors
- the need to find proper itemised budget
savings
- the dangers in the way the council has
kept changing its management structures.
We believe that many of the
problems stem from Labour's obsession with taking part in government
pilot projects which, however laudable in themselves, have led
the organisation to forget about getting the basics right.
Under Labour, Watford Council
has the highest council tax in Hertfordshire, although services
are no better than average, sometimes much worse. At the same
time it spends more than neighbouring councils on corporate management
and on spin and publicity.
The Liberal Democrats are committed to good
financial management. Unlike Labour, we never forget that it
is your money and that we should be answerable to you for how
it is managed.
A Liberal Democrat administration will:
- Restore confidence in the council's
finances by implementing the District Auditor's recommendations
as quickly as possible.
- Ensure that there are regular budget
monitoring reports to the Executive and Scrutiny Committees,
with the opportunity for full debate.
- As soon as possible carry out a series
of base budget reviews to identify savings, cut out waste and
ensure that key services get the highest priority.
- Reduce the amount of money spent on
corporate management.
- Cut spending on spin and publicity.
- Only increase Watford's share of the
council tax if it is necessary to maintain services and once
options for savings have been explored. We will aim to keep
increases as low as possible.
- In the long term, aim to bring Watford's
Council tax (currently the highest in Hertfordshire) into line
with the county average.
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