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Originally Posted by BERNADETTE
No need for apologies Mancie (we are friends on a brilliant discussion forum). But sorry whichever colour they/you are wearing, we never seem to get a direct answer from our local councillors (yes Ken I've read your posts but you never tell us how Labour would reverse the adverse downturn of Accy). And yes Mancie and Ken I do believe that National Policies do have a damn big effect on local Policies. Sorry but we ain't all that stupid as to believe what the current regime "promise" anymore that we believe what Labour "promise"!!!!
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Labour try to not to promise many things in Hyndburn because it might sound OK on the doorstep but it's impossible for any party to guarantee anything and ends up becoming an outright lie just for votes which sounds rather hollow four years later the next time you're up for election and it still hasn't been done.
There's no magic wand that can just be waved to improve Accrington's fortunes but the main gripe Labour have about the Hyndburn Tories is the money that is wasted and the 'jobs for the boys' which have been dished out over the years. Hundreds of thousands of pounds at the very least could be saved in an instant by making cuts in departments which are management-heavy and redeploying that money to ground services or helping shave a bit more off the debts which the council has racked up.
Recently, I stated that Labour balanced the books when they were in power in 2002-2003 but I implied that they got rid of all debt which isn't true. Although the debts run up by the Britcliffe administration were wiped out and the accounts brought back into a coherent order, there is still an uncomfortable amount outstanding from the council house building programmes of last century which all boroughs are still paying for. Some clever accounting has gone on in the past to try and reduce the interest but it is still being accrued and it would be better in my mind to get rid of it more quickly rather than fritter money away on pet projects.
Area Councils, whilst being sound in principle, cost Hyndburn in the region of £250,000 per year. For that money each ward gets three town meetings a year and a few thousand pounds to make improvements, something which is nigh on impossible with the funds available. One of my first tasks would be to refine that system and channel more money into the wards rather than administration.
The Market Hall is another bone of contention and something which is not run as it should be. Apart from the six day trading fiasco, profits from the market are propping up areas of the council itself, something which a public-owned asset should not do in my opinion. Ringfencing the market as a business in its own right and trimming the fat within the council to make each institution stand on its own two feet it would enable cuts to be made in line with government targets and also ease the burden on the traders by lowering rents to cover overheads instead of topping up HBC.
Too much money is frittered away in small amounts and it all needs to stop. The Cabinet Action Fund which has been increased to £100k this year lies within the control of one man for whatever he sees fit. Little votewinning cheques in The Accrington Observer of £500 here, £1,000 there, it all mounts up but it isn't distributed evenly throughout the borough. Rishton has had absolutely nothing.
There are too many committees, each with a chair on £1,500 extra per year per chairmanship, and I personally feel that it is far too much money simply for a councillor simply sitting at the head of a table during a handful of meetings so that would be trimmed right back.
The Floral Market Towns project had its budget increased by £115k this year for some towers in each ward but we're talking about a few Busy Lizzies and that's a lot of money. Those towers are expensive and should be handed over to Prospects who would do the same job for a fraction of the cost and be grateful for the new equipment.
I hope I've at least partly answered your question, Bernadette. I see waste everywhere and after a decade of running my mate's business accounts for him I have got very good at making economies with other people's money.