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BBC News
14 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Lincolnshire County Council leader warns of cuts to services
The leader of Lincolnshire County Council has warned of cuts to services in a bid to save more than £25m in the next financial is part of the medium-term financial plan, approved by the full council, which seeks to make £25.4m of savings in 2026/27, rising to £55.6m in 2028/ UK's Sean Matthews said the authority would need to make "difficult decisions" because of a lack of central government funding and increased financial uncertainty.A Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG) spokesperson said it was "taking action to fix the foundations of the [local council] sector". The figure was revealed during the authority's scrutiny and management board meeting on to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Matthews said proposals to make the savings would be set out later this year."We are having to make these cuts because of the lack of funds coming from central government. We have got to save £25m," he said."There are going to be cuts to services and there are going to be difficult decisions to make."However, the leader of the Conservative group, Richard Davies, said the council was well managed under the previous said: "In the time that we were running the council, we were able to save £400m. It is very telling that when people get into here they realise there are no easy answers."Davies said that, while some council services were already stretched, efficiency savings could be made without compromising on the quality of told councillors the savings would be carefully considered."Reform was elected on the mandate to cut waste. I can assure everybody that this will be done in accordance with the constitution and in a safe and legal way," he MHCLG spokesperson said: "We inherited councils in financial crisis across the country, which is why we are taking action to fix the foundations of the sector to provide security and certainty to local leaders."We provided £69bn of funding for council budgets this year, and this includes £740.3m for Lincolnshire County Council – a 5.4% increase in core spending power on last year to keep vital services running as part of our Plan for Change." Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
BBC News
18-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Birmingham councillors clash over 'arrogant' vision for city
Birmingham City Council's ruling Labour group has come under fire from opposition councillors over a vision for the city's authority's new corporate plan sets out its priorities for the next three years and how it intends to address governance and financial challenges, after it declared effective bankruptcy, in say they want to make the city fairer, greener and healthier, by exploring issues such as housing need, unemployment and child a meeting where the plan was unveiled, leader John Cotton said the vision showed a "determination to right previous wrongs", but the Conservative group said it was "arrogant" and a possible "Labour election pitch". Tory councillor Deirdre Alden proposed an amendment stating that any long-term strategy should be based on the mandate delivered by voters following all-out elections next said the administration should focus until then on balancing the books, resolving equal pay and ending the bin strike, among other priorities."Time and resources should not have been spent now on developing a strategy for the years after 2026," she said."It's arrogant and it starts to look as if council resources have been spent on a Labour election pitch." Cotton described the plan as a "milestone", adding it was a "clear demonstration of our ambitions for Birmingham".Liberal Democrat group leader Roger Harmer suggested the Labour administration was instead a "millstone around the necks of our city".Green Party councillor Julien Pritchard argued the council's plans did not "seem to survive contact with reality". 'No apology for ambition' In response to the Conservative amendment, Cotton said it removed "forward-looking ambition"."I certainly, as leader of this council, make no apology for being ambitious for Birmingham," he told the chamber."I've never stood in this chamber and speculated about what happens in future elections, I think that's a fool's game," he said."But I do know Brummies will not accept a politics and a vision that's built on negativity." The effective bankruptcy declaration triggered a wave of cuts to services and plans to raise council tax by about 20% over two that contributed to the council's financial crisis, according to external auditors, include an equal pay row, disastrous implementation of a new IT system and inadequate housing a bin strike that started with one-day walkouts in January, is now in its sixth corporate plan was approved but the Conservatives' amendment was not passed. This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
The Herald Scotland
14-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
I'm not sure Edinburgh Council's big problem is too many Xmas parties
But in a 30-page report at the end of which Mr Dunion makes 15 recommendations, the last has attracted much attention, for the council to 'consider the appropriateness of social events and hospitality arrangements'. Before anyone gets the impression that Edinburgh's City Chambers is awash with Bacchanalian excess, in my five years I never witnessed anything remotely untoward. Read more Maybe I just wasn't invited to the hottest events, but my recollection, primarily of Conservative Group Christmas receptions, was of a few glasses of wine and supermarket nibbles ─ funded by us from our group subscriptions ─ and everyone mucking in to clear away in very good time to repair to a nearby boozer where it was someone else's turn to serve the drinks. The Labour Group bash did have disco music and lights, but I didn't stay long in case I cramped their style. I was either unaware or not bothered if the SNP, Lib Dems or Greens threw parties, swell or otherwise. But it seems the festive gatherings were too much for some who spoke to Mr Dunion, either that or he just didn't like the principle, but that wasn't the reason he was called in. Of the other 14 recommendations in this keenly anticipated report to next Thursday's full council meeting, 12 involve a review of existing whistleblowing and complaints procedures, to consider a tweak here or a twiddle there. Better record keeping, clear routes of complaint, better HR support for staff, and that kind of thing. There is a clear risk Mr Dunion will be accused of producing another whitewash, but although he did not have compelling authority, resources or time to dig deeper into the allegations, there is still plenty to make uncomfortable reading for some. First, reading between the lines, I believe there is a strong inference that if the harassment allegations against Cllr Day had been substantiated - which they were not - they would at the very least have represented inappropriate behaviour for someone holding a prominent public role. 'Councillors are personally responsible for their own behaviour and for ensuring they meet the expectations of those holding office,' he wrote. 'It is not just about obeying but reflecting on how their behaviour may be regarded.' Quite. Cammy Day outside the City Chambers (Image: free) Second, the 'neither confirm nor deny' response from Susanne Tanner KC, to the direct question of whether she had been made aware of previous allegations against Cllr Day during her 2021 examination of the council's whistleblowing culture, was rather undermined by former Education, Children and Families Vice-Convener Alison Dickie confirming she submitted a dossier of safeguarding allegations, including Cllr Day, to the Tanner Review team, and raised it with her in a subsequent meeting. Strangely, I recall Ms Tanner was not so reticent in answering direct questions from Councillor Day about councillors' alleged behaviour ─ mine, and I was subsequently cleared by the Ethical Standards Commission ─ when presenting her report, but that's another story. However, Mr Dunion's examination reveals that one senior Edinburgh councillor is a copper-bottomed, ocean-going liar who is unfit to hold public office. The councillor cannot be identified because there is no substantiating evidence. They were among those councillors emailed by Chief Executive Paul Lawrence in December last year to inform them about details of properties relating to Cllr Day, and the email contents appeared 'in its entirety' in the Daily Record shortly after. Mr Dunion spoke to them all and each denied being the source. One of them is not telling the truth. 'There are not any proportionate means within the limited capacity of this review to pursue this further,' he said. 'There is no doubt however that this is a deliberate breach of the Councillors Code of Conduct. The almost immediate passing of this to the press, is a betrayal of trust.' I know that if I was one of those who hadn't done the leaking, I'd be concerned someone might think it was me, and they have no way of showing they were not to blame. Read more There are more obvious criticisms, particularly how then council leader Adam Nols-McVey handled allegations by a man who claimed to have been groomed as a 15-year-old in 2010 by an unnamed councillor ─ who Mr Dunion confirms was Cllr Day ─ when he was in care after suffering sexual abuse. The man had emailed Cllr Nols-McVey in 2018, when Cllr Day was his deputy, but Nols-McVey did not inform then Chief Executive Andrew Kerr. He told Mr Dunion he spoke to a police chief superintendent who said nothing could be done without the name of either alleged victim or perpetrator. The email and subsequent messages from the alleged victim could not be traced because, Mr Dunion noted, the complaints were not shared and only retained in recipients' mailboxes. Mr Dunion's conclusion is clear. 'The seriousness of the claim of potentially criminal behaviour by a councillor, who might be the Deputy Leader, is such that the emails should have been shared by the Council Leader with the Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer,' he said. 'They would then have been in a position to decide whether to contact the police.' After the 2022 elections, the SNP-Labour coalition ended, and Cllr Nols McVey was replaced by Cllr Day as leader of a minority Labour administration. Mr Dunion doesn't say if that had any bearing on events. But Christmas parties? Forget it. John McLellan is a former Edinburgh Evening News and Scotsman editor. He served as a City of Edinburgh councillor for five years. Brought up in Glasgow, McLellan has lived and worked in Edinburgh for 30 years
Pembrokeshire Herald
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Pembrokeshire Herald
Welsh Government unveils plan to strengthen protections for ancient woodlands
AN UNSUCCESSFUL call for no confidence in Pembrokeshire's deputy leader has been labelled 'an abuse of a democratic forum for personal promotion,' but its instigator has said he has no regrets. At an extraordinary meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council on June 2, Independent Group leader Cllr Huw Murphy called for no confidence in Councillor Paul Miller to remain as Deputy Leader & Cabinet Member. Cllr Murphy had made the call, which was ultimately unsuccessful, partly due to comments made by Cllr Miller at an April meeting of the council's Cabinet in which he moved an amendment with regards to Welsh Education Strategic Plan (WESP) to request officers collect data from parents of children electing a Welsh medium education. A bone of contention for Cllr Murphy was when Cllr Miller commented with regards to parental choice for Welsh medium school Ysgol Caer Elen: '…all of them that I know who send their children to Caer Ellen honestly couldn't give a toss whether it was Welsh or English'. 'Comments such as this in 2025 are unacceptable and serve to create a perception of bias when it comes to the delivery of Welsh medium education, something that generations have striven for, namely equality and fairness,' Cllr Murphy has previously said. 'For a Deputy Leader of Council to make such comments and then refuse to retract when he has had ample opportunity to do so makes his position untenable both as Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member. The matter was reported to the Welsh Language Commissioner and was called in to the May Schools O&S Scrutiny Committee, ultimately returning to a May 21 meeting of the Cabinet, hearing a proposal by Cllr Miller to now collect data on all languages and additional information, before the special extraordinary meeting of June 2. Responding at the special meeting, Cllr Miller repeated previously made comments, saying there had never been an intention to collect the information through a formal schools process. He reiterated the 'couldn't give a toss' comment was one made by a mother in his ward which he had repeated, apologising if he had caused upset. He added: 'I believe Cllr Murphy should be deeply ashamed of his actions, he is trying to create division in the county of Pembrokeshire where no division exists,' adding: 'To suggest that either I personally or the administration is anti-Welsh is simply not true.' He was not the only one to take umbrage at Cllr Murphy's call, with Conservative Group Leader Cllr Di Clements saying: 'This is nothing more than petty political point scoring which we want no part of,' and council leader Cllr Jon Harvey saying it was 'creating division where none exists and political opportunism at its worst.' The no confidence call in Cllr Miller was defeated by 28 votes to 16, with 11 abstentions. There are 11 Conservative Group members in the council. Commenting after the meeting, Plaid Cymru county councillor for Tenby, Cllr Michael Williams who said he 'in no way condoned Cllr Miller's comments,' described the meeting as 'a complete waste of time and money'. He added: 'Cllr Murphy seems to think Local Government is a game and submitted absolutely no arguments to support his motion.' He went on to describe it as 'a pathetic waste of time,' saying: 'I hope lessons will be learnt, but I doubt they will. It amounted to an abuse of a democratic forum for personal promotion.' Cllr Murphy said he still felt he had made the right call, saying Cllr Miller 'never once showed contrition for his comments'. He added: 'The fact Cabinet have now been compelled to amend their position through the call-in and Welsh Language Commissioner's intervention shows the value of these challenges as otherwise Cllr Miller would be requesting data from less than 20 per cent of Neyland parents for wishing to send their children to Caer Elen over the 80 per cent sending their children to Haverfordwest High or Milford Haven which would suggest clear bias against Welsh medium education. 'As Leader of Independent Group I have no regrets in requesting a call in and then an EGM and if such behaviour is repeated by Cabinet members it won't be the last time such a meeting is requested under the constitution. Neither did we canvass support from any other political group.' He finished: 'The fact the Conservative Group, through abstaining, threw Cllr Miller a lifeline will not be lost on Pembrokeshire voters who will draw their own conclusions on such a decision where the Conservatives have effectively supported Labour and the administration on this issue.'
Pembrokeshire Herald
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Pembrokeshire Herald
Hayscastle Cross housing approved after five-year wait
AN UNSUCCESSFUL call for no confidence in Pembrokeshire's deputy leader has been labelled 'an abuse of a democratic forum for personal promotion,' but its instigator has said he has no regrets. At an extraordinary meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council on June 2, Independent Group leader Cllr Huw Murphy called for no confidence in Councillor Paul Miller to remain as Deputy Leader & Cabinet Member. Cllr Murphy had made the call, which was ultimately unsuccessful, partly due to comments made by Cllr Miller at an April meeting of the council's Cabinet in which he moved an amendment with regards to Welsh Education Strategic Plan (WESP) to request officers collect data from parents of children electing a Welsh medium education. A bone of contention for Cllr Murphy was when Cllr Miller commented with regards to parental choice for Welsh medium school Ysgol Caer Elen: '…all of them that I know who send their children to Caer Ellen honestly couldn't give a toss whether it was Welsh or English'. 'Comments such as this in 2025 are unacceptable and serve to create a perception of bias when it comes to the delivery of Welsh medium education, something that generations have striven for, namely equality and fairness,' Cllr Murphy has previously said. 'For a Deputy Leader of Council to make such comments and then refuse to retract when he has had ample opportunity to do so makes his position untenable both as Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member. The matter was reported to the Welsh Language Commissioner and was called in to the May Schools O&S Scrutiny Committee, ultimately returning to a May 21 meeting of the Cabinet, hearing a proposal by Cllr Miller to now collect data on all languages and additional information, before the special extraordinary meeting of June 2. Responding at the special meeting, Cllr Miller repeated previously made comments, saying there had never been an intention to collect the information through a formal schools process. He reiterated the 'couldn't give a toss' comment was one made by a mother in his ward which he had repeated, apologising if he had caused upset. He added: 'I believe Cllr Murphy should be deeply ashamed of his actions, he is trying to create division in the county of Pembrokeshire where no division exists,' adding: 'To suggest that either I personally or the administration is anti-Welsh is simply not true.' He was not the only one to take umbrage at Cllr Murphy's call, with Conservative Group Leader Cllr Di Clements saying: 'This is nothing more than petty political point scoring which we want no part of,' and council leader Cllr Jon Harvey saying it was 'creating division where none exists and political opportunism at its worst.' The no confidence call in Cllr Miller was defeated by 28 votes to 16, with 11 abstentions. There are 11 Conservative Group members in the council. Commenting after the meeting, Plaid Cymru county councillor for Tenby, Cllr Michael Williams who said he 'in no way condoned Cllr Miller's comments,' described the meeting as 'a complete waste of time and money'. He added: 'Cllr Murphy seems to think Local Government is a game and submitted absolutely no arguments to support his motion.' He went on to describe it as 'a pathetic waste of time,' saying: 'I hope lessons will be learnt, but I doubt they will. It amounted to an abuse of a democratic forum for personal promotion.' Cllr Murphy said he still felt he had made the right call, saying Cllr Miller 'never once showed contrition for his comments'. He added: 'The fact Cabinet have now been compelled to amend their position through the call-in and Welsh Language Commissioner's intervention shows the value of these challenges as otherwise Cllr Miller would be requesting data from less than 20 per cent of Neyland parents for wishing to send their children to Caer Elen over the 80 per cent sending their children to Haverfordwest High or Milford Haven which would suggest clear bias against Welsh medium education. 'As Leader of Independent Group I have no regrets in requesting a call in and then an EGM and if such behaviour is repeated by Cabinet members it won't be the last time such a meeting is requested under the constitution. Neither did we canvass support from any other political group.' He finished: 'The fact the Conservative Group, through abstaining, threw Cllr Miller a lifeline will not be lost on Pembrokeshire voters who will draw their own conclusions on such a decision where the Conservatives have effectively supported Labour and the administration on this issue.'
