Northumberland Labour says Tory council leaders are congratulating themselves on being £2.1m underspent after imposing £17m worth of cuts to services for vulnerable Northumbrians.
Leader Scott Dickinson MBE said: “Northumberland County Council has always been a strong performer on finance, with the cost-of-living crisis it’s even more important it continues to perform that way on the day that we see Citizens Advice saying they are seeing more people than ever, inflation is rising again and the squeeze on families in some cases is unbearable.
“Only last September the council was forecasting a huge overspend, but they took a hatchet to services for some of our most vulnerable residents and now they’re giving themselves a pat on the back for overachieving while many Northumbrians have been denied services they need. I applaud strong financial performance but not at the cost of residents and services.
“In February we voted against a budget that targeted some of the most vulnerable in our communities for increase, we tried to defend service cuts that local people are now seeing an impact on them personally and we are asking rather than put it in the “council coffers” how can people at most need be supported or can some of the damaging cuts to public services be reversed, halved or cushioned.
“Many Northumberland families are struggling, some are on the brink. We have seen rents for council tenants increased by eight per cent, service charges by eleven per cent, brown bins, rubbish collections, recycling centre day closures, sheltered accommodation, regeneration schemes, and much more all hit by the Tory February council budget.
“Now the administration are thrilled about underspending by a couple of million, and I am too, but I want to see that money used to help those in most need.
“It’s impossible not to smile at the comments from the leader of the council who said the council has kept council tax under three per cent when we all know that a council has to hold a referendum if they want to charge more than three per cent.
“So local council tax paying residents have had a 2.99 per cent hike; the most the council could get away with without having to ask residents for their views.
“If the council has done this well at the expense of local people, we’ll be looking for services to be restored in this financial year.. That’s the very least we can expect.”
