Labour ready to revise Lib Dem’s council cutbacks

NEARLY £1m in cuts at a cash-starved council are due to be ditched next week when an emergency budget drawn up by the new Labour administration is approved.

The updated financial plan has been drawn up by Labour members after they won control of York Council in last month’s local elections.

The council had been faced with enforcing £21m of savings during this financial year, although the figure is now due to be reduced by £822,000 under Labour’s proposals.

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York Council’s leader, Councillor James Alexander, pledged to focus on key areas such as health and disability assessment after ditching the budget drawn up by the previous Liberal Democrat administration.

Coun Alexander said: “There were really a lot of unfair cuts to services agreed in February such as to day care services budgets and transport for the elderly, meaning charges were more than doubled.”

He added: ““We will reverse many of these cuts where we can, and also ensure we focus on young people’s services that have been cut.”

One major project being scrapped is a plan to build a new council base in the Acomb district.

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The new offices, which were earmarked for a site next to Acomb library, had been due to replace the council’s existing base off Carr Lane.

But the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Carol Runciman, claimed the new budget needed to be the basis for a long-term financial plan that is sustainable.

She added: “We drew up a budget that looked carefully at expenditure and made sure that front-line services remained unaffected for the residents of York.

“The new proposals from Labour must not be a short-term fix for political gain.”

The emergency budget will go before a full council meeting next Thursday, although it is due to be approved as Labour secured an overall majority by winning 26 of the authority’s 47 seats.