Council chief urges unity in face of crisis

EAST Riding Council leader Stephen Parnaby has called for cross-party support to steer the authority through the country's "biggest financial crisis since the First World War".

Following Chancellor George Osborne's austerity budget on Tuesday, Coun Parnaby told a meeting of the full council yesterday that there were tough times ahead that would be easier to negotiate without political point-scoring.

But he said the council was in a good position to weather the crisis.

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He said: "Clearly, some of the public expenditure reductions will have a significant impact on the council and other local authorities, although the real detail will not be known until the autumn spending review is complete.

"I accept there are a number of efficiencies and reductions in expenditure this council can make, but I have to tell you that these collectively will only go a very small way towards the overall requirements."

He referred to previous savings the council had made and said: "So we have been here before and I am convinced we can do it again.

"We will achieve this if we all work together, that is across political parties and with our excellent team of officers."

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Coun Parnaby said he was "very concerned" about the way public sector employees had been targeted.

He added: "It is not the fault of this council, its workforce or our council tax payers that the country's public finances are in a mess.

"This is an economic financial crisis created by the banks and economic recession and the previous Government making commitment to expenditure which simply was not there, which we are now having to pay for.

"But we all have to play our part to help put this right."

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