RCT Welsh Liberal Democrats

RCT's Labour Cabinet meet on Monday 11th February to put some flesh on the bones of the budget strategy for the coming year.
The main headlines came out last month when the outline report was presented for their consideration. As well as a 3.95% increase in Council Tax the report revealed that Labour were abandoning many of their manifesto commitments - to preserve weekly waste collection, keep bulky waste collection free, and maintain street cleaning and grass cutting.
They gave the green light to the initial proposals, breaking their promises to the electorate after just eight months of their current reign. The report tomorrow adds detail to the plans.
From 1st April they will introduce a £10 per item charge for bulky waste collection. The report dismisses claims that this may lead to more fly tipping, saying that they have effective mechanisms in place to deal with that.
Fortnightly collection of black bag waste. This despite very emphatically stating in all their pre-election leaflets they would not consider this. Recycling will still be collected weekly.
A review of grass cutting and street cleansing operations. "This is to be reprogrammed in terms of staff numbers and the length of cutting season." It does not elaborate on how this will be achieved, but it is difficult to see how the savings can be achieved without redundancies.
They are also increasing charges across the board by 5% + the Retail Price Index. The exact figure for this will be published later this week, but is likely to be at least 3%, so a minimum 8% rise in charges for Council facilities.
All this from a Labour group who promised to maintain services and protect the people of RCT from excessive cuts. But then as we have come to expect, Labour promises are not worth the paper they were written on.

Cabinet Meeting 11 February
THE COUNCIL’S 2013/14 REVENUE BUDGET – DECISIONS TO BRIDGE
THE BUDGET GAP
REPORT OF THE GROUP DIRECTOR CORPORATE SERVICES
AUTHOR : Steve Merritt

Report on Link

http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/en/councildemocracy/democracyelections/councill...

Labour were abandoning many of their manifesto commitments

http://pontylibdems.org.uk/en/article/2013/649928/labour-manifesto-not-w...