Gainsborough: The council budget has been welcomed

Coun David Cotton is a councillor for the Liberal Democrats party and he has welcomed the budget.

He said: “We remain in difficult economic circumstances and as an authority, the same as many others, we have to continue to try and make savings.”

“However, in that sense there is a limit to what you can save and there is need to try and always maintain services in the front line.”

“We are the only council in Lincolnshire that doesn’t charge for Green Waste Collection and the present administration have said they have no plans to do so at present.”

“While we have to collect domestic refuse, green waste is not a statutory service and whether we should charge is a question that in my view we ought to debate more fully.”

“It is also necessary to maintain income streams for those services provided which attract a fee or charge and where ever possible that should be recovered at full cost to the applicant or customer and not be subsidised by the Council Tax Payer.”

“The other question I have which is worthy of consideration is if council tax should rise each year by the rate of inflation. The council like everyone else is subject to inflationary costs, one such example being diesel which is used in the refuse lorries for a frontline service. We don’t get relief on that in any way and so as the price rises so too does the cost of that diesel.”

“Above all we are a debt free authority, we do not owe any money nor have we borrowed money and are not likely to do so.”

“We have also made it clear that as far as possible there will not be any compulsory redundancies as a result of cuts we have from Government.”

“At the end of the day no budget ought to be a political football, I firmly believe we are all in this together and the pressures felt by the current administration would be the same for any political group in control.”

“Rather than this be a budget of the administration it should be a budget of the Council.”

The council has also pledged its support to a new flooding relief scheme and it will offer 100 per cent Council Tax exemption for up to one year, to support residents affected by flooding.