On Weds 8th April Liverpool City Council hold their final full council meeting before the elections on May 7th. Mayor Joe Anderson has submitted a budget motion for debate, and allocated 30 minutes to discussion in the council chamber on the points he has raised.
Speakers will be allocated two minutes each to contribute to the debate, which will cover the impact of a further public £13bn in public sector cuts coupled with £12 bn in welfare cuts. Mayor Anderson also lists devolution for the Liverpool City Region, HS2, and Children’s Centres as subjects for debate.
Cllr John Coyne will challenge the ruling party’s position on spending cuts, in line with the Green Party policy on austerity. The Green Party is the largest UK party who reject austerity as imposed so far by the Coalition Government. The Greens also reject the next tranche of austerity cuts outlined in the budget delivered by chancellor George Osborne on March 18th.
Councillor Coyne said
“It’s not enough just to complain about government cuts. It’s clear that an incoming Labour government would also make further cuts to local government funding. If the Mayor wants to stick up for Liverpool then he should be demanding a change of mind from Labour, and a commitment to start reversing the cuts over the first few months of the next parliament.”
“Council notes that there has so far been no commitment given by the Labour Party to restore funding to local authorities as a whole if they win the election; that, on the contrary, the Labour Party’s “Zero-Based Review” calls for a £500m reduction in the budget of the Department for Communities and Local Government; and that the vast majority of Labour MPs voted in January to support the Government’s “Charter for Budget Responsibility” which could require an additional £30bn of spending cuts.
Council requests the Mayor to write to the Leader of the Opposition, Ed Miliband, asking him to state how much, if any, additional funding would be granted to Liverpool during the current financial year if Labour wins the general election and how that additional funding would be paid for.”
This will be Cllr John Coyne’s final full council meeting before his retirement in May.