Brighton and Hove council leader asks why us as Government funding is cut (From The Argus)

Something to do with B&H's decision to raise council tax by 2 per cent maybe? That went down very badly with Mr Pickles I seem to recall....perhaps now he is exacting his revenge.

A link to the 50 ways to save would have been useful Mr Argus ?

We seem to be getting a good funding level compared to others (third highest according to the report) so I think Mr Kitkat complains too much....

The new system seems to put more pressure on councils to raise money through business rates. So the council shares in the success of business. This surely is a good idea encouraging jobs and success. The challenge is to get the greens to think this way too - there are signs of this with some of the parking rethink.

We need to encourage business to come to and stay in the city.

Meanwhile there will need to be cuts in council services but all parties seem to be agreed that some steps are possible. However to meet challenges of future years more radical ideas and out of the box savings will be needed - this is where focus needs to be put not on claiming that Brighton is being picked on. Accept it, move on and work out best way to make savings and be creative so that key services are maintained.

jamus77 wrote:
Something to do with B&H's decision to raise council tax by 2 per cent maybe? That went down very badly with Mr Pickles I seem to recall....perhaps now he is exacting his revenge.

Which of course is a valid response! You are of course right. This is a political act and emphasises how little power people have in this so called democracy. Petty politicians playing petty games.

Of course there's “room to manoeuvre”, Jason.

Just stop throwing our money around on dumb vanity projects and silly cycle lanes.

You know it makes sense.

You seem to be developing a persecution complex kitty kitty.
The central belief of every moron is that he is the victim of a mysterious conspiracy against his common rights and true deserts. He ascribes all his failure to get on in the world, all of his congenital incapacity and damfoolishness, to the machinations of werewolves assembled in Wall Street, or some other such den of infamy

hopfully there not giving you so much money because they finally relized your wasting it on alot of rubbish, nothing what the people of brighton & hove want just yourselfs
i think its time to take a break have a kitcat.

Why us? Simple Comrade Kitcat. Because this Green Party Council has exhibited every symptom of being more interested in floating bonkers schemes than providing basic services and value for money.

And do you imagine that the antics of Vegan Duncan, 'Don't call me Mister' MacCafferty, and Sven 'Any Colour But Pink' Rufus has not caught the attention of the Pickles brigade? What sort of confidence could any government have in a local authority more concerned with stopping burning yuletide logs and putting up solar panelled palm trees than in emptying the bins and sweeping the streets.

We know that you think running the council is a bit of a lark but now we are all going to pay the the price of your vanity and self-indulgence.

BenUk wrote:
hopfully there not giving you so much money because they finally relized your wasting it on alot of rubbish, nothing what the people of brighton & hove want just yourselfs
i think its time to take a break have a kitcat.

It seems illiteracy is alive and well.

the above comments are bang on, as part of one of the frontline services to loose our three year "small grant" from the council it is hard to swallow, when you hear of the millions the council is wasting on tat, beurocracy and mindless schemes.

Now is the time for all Briton men and women of good charachter to stand together and fight for the removal of the odious, Marxist, ultra-politically correct Green council.

If we all work together, this could happen within months! It really could!

Sorry, that should have been 'Brighton' instead of 'Briton'; iPad keyboard fail

3 easy ways to save money:

1. stop paying out grants to various groups.

2. stop staff working on the election whilst being paid for being at work (1 days wages x large number of staff is a lot of money)

3. stop building cycle lanes that are hardly used.

According to The Biscuit Brighton has a high number of over 85s.

I thought Brighton was supposed to be "young", "trendy" and "vibrant".not full of over 85s.

Kitty-crap,stop wasting our money or it will be witheld until you go back to la la land,you are a disgrace & an r-sole !

The Greens have wasted money and destroyed jobs with their crazy vanity projects such as expecting people from mid-Sussex and elsewhere to cycle down here to shop and go on holiday, building virtually unused bicycle lanes and pushing road transport schemes designed to make it more uncomfortable to visit Brighton by choking the traffic that comes into the city via Lewes Road and Dyke Rd Av. Stupid solar trees on Volks Railway instead of trying to spend the money on smartening up the city.

Why do they now expect any favours from central government.

Why us? Because we are all in it together, and even you, Jason, will have to make economies.

The basic problem is that the councillors are run by the officers, would a turkey vote for Christmas! What needs to be done is for the various service departments to look into ways of amalgamating staff. One council some little while ago made heads of departments go into other departments and do a root and branch review of the activites in each, it was discovered that in some departments reports and activities set up for a particular purpose in the past, even when this work was completed the teams were left in place and re-invented themselves and no one had noticed what was going on as each year the reports were simply shelved without any more action being taken because the heads were keen to maintain their lillte ivory towers. Once the review set in a great deal of money was saved and in fact cuts then did not have to be saved. There were even departments doing virtually the same work with out any contact between them. This was stopped overnight much to the dislike by some of the department heads.

Aw diddums, the nasty Mister Pickles is taking away the toys.
Get real, the whole countries up the creek without a paddle. Brighton is NOT a special case.
If the councillors revolved in the real world rather than living off expenses AND having ther pensions paid for by taxpayers they might see everyones having the same problems.
My taxes, shopping, fuel, travel costs and living expenses have all gone up, while my salaries gone down.
Perhaps if the Council are having a shortfall they should consider working SMARTER and LEANER and also looking at how they can increase the income from local taxation.I'm sure I read somewhere 1 in 4 houses in B&H has a council tax discount. Well perhaps if they charged students or property owners who let to students that would be a start. These people are residents of B&H and use B&H services so why are they exempt?
If B&H is only getting 75% of it's potential income of Council tax there's no point in rolling on the floor and screaming its not fair.
Where is this housing need coming from? Greeting with open arms every waif, stray, traveller, migrant and vagabond.Who's fault is that?
And a high porportion f over 85's? Are you NUTS? The overall population of the UK is going up.
Is Brighton really becoming God's waiting room? I'd always thought Bournemouth and Eastbourne we're the pensioner capitals of the South.

He lives in Brightons 'Hall Of Fame';
He got there blow-by-blow;
Your kids will tell THEIR kids his name;
Jason Kitcat Loony-oh!

The Govt has said the council can keep some of the business rates collected.
The Argus should check out the council's target and collection rates for business rates.
They are available online. That may also help answer why the Govt wont give this council additional money.

They should also check the amout of uncollected council tax. If people do not pay this they are may go to prison, but if you are in a council property the tax is usually part of the rent, so if the rent is unpaid as much in Brighton is not then the tenant is not paying council tax either. The poblem is that one department collects rents and another council tax. The rent department has to pay the tax department for all the properties so in effect the tax is paid and those that actually pay it are againg subsidising the non-payers.

Perhaps someone could tell Mr KwikKrap that OUR city, not his, is being punished for the excesses of stupid spending on stupid things like putting pavements across road junctions

Lets have a reality check, shall we?

First, before a torrent of abuse comes my way - I didn't vote Green!

Next, there are Councils all around the Country stating that this "settlement", effectively makes them near to bankruptcy - most are Tory run!!!

Hastings - 14% cut - not Tory run, but facing a near disaster

Next, cycle lanes are funded by central Government Grants, so cannot be used to prop up other services. The money is not transferable.

Now, the real stuff - this Council has been cut, as have others, for the last 12 years, at 2% per annum for most of it. And yes, by Labour and Tory Governments alike - and under Labour, Tory and Green administrations.

There is simply, no more to cut, without going into core services.

Are most of the contributers above really saying that the "green haze" in front of their eyes, makes it ok for Eric Pickles cuts to directly affect the elderly, the young, the disabled?

In November, the cuts were to be £14 million, then in a matter of 10 days they increased to £24m, now add a further £3m, or thereabouts.

No organisation can plan properly on that basis. Which is why the Local Government Association, has stated these cuts are impossible, without a massive effect on front-line services. The LGA, by the way, is Conservative run!

Green, Red, Blue - I don't care! What I do know is that the most vulnerable will suffer and that is not right or fair. It's our responsibility to speak up for them - write to your MP, especially if you are in Hove or Kemptown constituencies. Do it tonight - 20 communications in an MP's postbox a week on a single issue, rattles them! This is a rich country, it's just that 1% have 40% of the wealth - time to spread it around a bit more!

There are councils all over the UK which would kill for a golden revenue stream such as parking as B&H has.
But instead of using this revenue stream as a way to support the city, Cllr KitKat and his colleagues have strangled the golden goose leaving the city with a £700,000 shortfall and now he wants the rest of the UK's citizens to pay up for their reckless behaviour.
That's extremely naive.
Personally, to waste such an opportunity to raise money for the city and its people, is shameful and Cllr Kitkat should stand down because he has squandered the city's income.
Perhaps we can sue him for reckless behaviour.

A nursery rhym for our times;-

Baa baa Kitcat have you any bull ?
Yes sir, yes sir 23 bags full,
One from each councillor, including me,
And one very large one from our Green MP.

Baa baa Kitcat what will you do with it ?
We fed it to the Brighton plebs you stupid little git
And they believed almost everything we said
So as well as a Green MP, the Council is Green led

Baa baa Kitcat what will you do ?
Well sir, we’ll inflict our Green ideas on you,
Our first one is to make sure that Brighton gains,
Hundreds of miles of new cycle lanes..

But Baa baa Kitcat what about our cars ?
Well sir, there’s plenty of parking up on Mars,
We’ll make sure you’re kept well out of town,
Even if it drives all the traders takings down

( Baa baa Kitcat likes travellers a lot,
And students and protesters and people that squat,
Cos all these groups are big Green players,
Unlike us poor old Council Tax payers. )

But Baa baa Kitcat we don’t like Greens a lot,
Your policies have sent our city all to pot,
Doesn’t matter sir, I make no apology
For implementing all our Green ideology

But Baa baa Kitcat this isn’t very fair,
Sorry sir, but frankly we just don’t care,
We’ve been elected by the public at large,
And you’ll have to get used to us being in charge.

Baa baa Kitcat you’ve only got 4 years,
And for you Greens it will all end in tears,
For at the next election it will come to pass,
That the voters will administer the final coup de grace.

Sorry Jase but your lot have helped turn our town into a rubbish tip, don't be surprised if the govrenment won't give you more to waste

Martha Gunn wrote:
Why us? Simple Comrade Kitcat. Because this Green Party Council has exhibited every symptom of being more interested in floating bonkers schemes than providing basic services and value for money.

And do you imagine that the antics of Vegan Duncan, 'Don't call me Mister' MacCafferty, and Sven 'Any Colour But Pink' Rufus has not caught the attention of the Pickles brigade? What sort of confidence could any government have in a local authority more concerned with stopping burning yuletide logs and putting up solar panelled palm trees than in emptying the bins and sweeping the streets.

We know that you think running the council is a bit of a lark but now we are all going to pay the the price of your vanity and self-indulgence.

Absolutely!

Take a break Mr Kitcat and take your Green idealists with you.

You are wasting money on consultations that have no substance, such as with the communal bins in Hanover which are clearly a terrible idea and anything but Green. And they're right outside my lovely house, now a stinking pit of fly-tipped rubbish.

And you don't listen. Nor does your Mayor and nor does your City Clean staff.

I have voted 'no confidence' in your administration, and I hope other do too. It's an e-petition on the council website and already has more than 200 votes saying that your time is up.

That is just the online votes. Lots more on the paper votes and plenty of time.The Labour and Conservative groups better listen up, Gill seems to be aware but Geoff had better join in or they will be decimated at the next election. What the hell where you doing voting with the Greens over the seven dials carve up? Come back Mary all is forgiven. Vote now and get the bed wetters out.
Vote of no confidence in the Green administration e petition now live on the Brighton and Hove City Council website. If you love your city and want to end the waste and destruction of the Greens, please sign the petition. We need 1250 signatures to get this discussed in full council. Surely there are 1250 angry people in the city who want to make a difference? Save Our City.
http://present.brigh
ton-hove.gov.uk/mgEP
etitionDisplay.aspx?
ID=360&RPID=6033530&
HPID=6033530

Well of course Ms/Mr Resident. Quite right I didn't even start on the fraudulent consultation processes initiated under the Greenthink regime. The plan originally was that Lucas would keep the loonies in control but now it has all gone horribly pear-shaped. She has proved unable to control the nutters.
Sensible Green sympathisers all over the country are in despair at the antics of this council and wonder how it can all have gone so wrong so quickly and so spectacularly.

We now have the most laughable and derided Council in the country.
But don't bother with the e-petition, it will produce nothing - just concentrate on the next election.

ourcoalition wrote:
Lets have a reality check, shall we?

First, before a torrent of abuse comes my way - I didn't vote Green!

Next, there are Councils all around the Country stating that this "settlement", effectively makes them near to bankruptcy - most are Tory run!!!

Hastings - 14% cut - not Tory run, but facing a near disaster

Next, cycle lanes are funded by central Government Grants, so cannot be used to prop up other services. The money is not transferable.

Now, the real stuff - this Council has been cut, as have others, for the last 12 years, at 2% per annum for most of it. And yes, by Labour and Tory Governments alike - and under Labour, Tory and Green administrations.

There is simply, no more to cut, without going into core services.

Are most of the contributers above really saying that the "green haze" in front of their eyes, makes it ok for Eric Pickles cuts to directly affect the elderly, the young, the disabled?

In November, the cuts were to be £14 million, then in a matter of 10 days they increased to £24m, now add a further £3m, or thereabouts.

No organisation can plan properly on that basis. Which is why the Local Government Association, has stated these cuts are impossible, without a massive effect on front-line services. The LGA, by the way, is Conservative run!

Green, Red, Blue - I don't care! What I do know is that the most vulnerable will suffer and that is not right or fair. It's our responsibility to speak up for them - write to your MP, especially if you are in Hove or Kemptown constituencies. Do it tonight - 20 communications in an MP's postbox a week on a single issue, rattles them! This is a rich country, it's just that 1% have 40% of the wealth - time to spread it around a bit more!

My, a sensible comment on The Argus! Now I have truly seen it all.

inadaptado wrote:

ourcoalition wrote:
Lets have a reality check, shall we?

First, before a torrent of abuse comes my way - I didn't vote Green!

Next, there are Councils all around the Country stating that this "settlement", effectively makes them near to bankruptcy - most are Tory run!!!

Hastings - 14% cut - not Tory run, but facing a near disaster

Next, cycle lanes are funded by central Government Grants, so cannot be used to prop up other services. The money is not transferable.

Now, the real stuff - this Council has been cut, as have others, for the last 12 years, at 2% per annum for most of it. And yes, by Labour and Tory Governments alike - and under Labour, Tory and Green administrations.

There is simply, no more to cut, without going into core services.

Are most of the contributers above really saying that the "green haze" in front of their eyes, makes it ok for Eric Pickles cuts to directly affect the elderly, the young, the disabled?

In November, the cuts were to be £14 million, then in a matter of 10 days they increased to £24m, now add a further £3m, or thereabouts.

No organisation can plan properly on that basis. Which is why the Local Government Association, has stated these cuts are impossible, without a massive effect on front-line services. The LGA, by the way, is Conservative run!

Green, Red, Blue - I don't care! What I do know is that the most vulnerable will suffer and that is not right or fair. It's our responsibility to speak up for them - write to your MP, especially if you are in Hove or Kemptown constituencies. Do it tonight - 20 communications in an MP's postbox a week on a single issue, rattles them! This is a rich country, it's just that 1% have 40% of the wealth - time to spread it around a bit more!

My, a sensible comment on The Argus! Now I have truly seen it all.

Yes, great comment.
It is sad and wrong that the most vulnerable groups will suffer disproportionately.
However, perhaps those unable to feed themselves or heat their hovels will be entitled to discounts for riding up and down the i360? At least it will be warm. Perhaps another £14 million loan from council tax could be set up to build something else that will bring in yet another "800,000 tourists per year"!
Why can't we support people who build and export things?

It all seems to be private companies scrounging money off a shrinking public sector.

'An inquiry-based economy' (Dailymash)

BornInBrighton1968 wrote:
Now is the time for all Briton men and women of good charachter to stand together and fight for the removal of the odious, Marxist, ultra-politically correct Green council.

If we all work together, this could happen within months! It really could!

Why are they Marxists? They are a Bourgeois, all for the middle classes, anti working class party. Marxism is an industrial theory, it is totally opposite from the nonsense of the Greens.

I know why I rarely bother with these boards. The disgrace is not this council but the Argus in allowing vile, personal insults. Thank God for the post from ourcoalition.

ourcoalition wrote:
Lets have a reality check, shall we? First, before a torrent of abuse comes my way - I didn't vote Green! Next, there are Councils all around the Country stating that this "settlement", effectively makes them near to bankruptcy - most are Tory run!!! Hastings - 14% cut - not Tory run, but facing a near disaster Next, cycle lanes are funded by central Government Grants, so cannot be used to prop up other services. The money is not transferable. Now, the real stuff - this Council has been cut, as have others, for the last 12 years, at 2% per annum for most of it. And yes, by Labour and Tory Governments alike - and under Labour, Tory and Green administrations. There is simply, no more to cut, without going into core services. Are most of the contributers above really saying that the "green haze" in front of their eyes, makes it ok for Eric Pickles cuts to directly affect the elderly, the young, the disabled? In November, the cuts were to be £14 million, then in a matter of 10 days they increased to £24m, now add a further £3m, or thereabouts. No organisation can plan properly on that basis. Which is why the Local Government Association, has stated these cuts are impossible, without a massive effect on front-line services. The LGA, by the way, is Conservative run! Green, Red, Blue - I don't care! What I do know is that the most vulnerable will suffer and that is not right or fair. It's our responsibility to speak up for them - write to your MP, especially if you are in Hove or Kemptown constituencies. Do it tonight - 20 communications in an MP's postbox a week on a single issue, rattles them! This is a rich country, it's just that 1% have 40% of the wealth - time to spread it around a bit more!

ourcoaliton this is the second time I am having to warn you about arguing using reason and facts as opposed to ever madded prejudiced statements. If this happens a third time you will be banned.
I did not, nor have I ever voted Green. Also if we had had any council but Green-that bunch of politically correct totally evil and stupid bunch everything would have been fine, we would ahve had no cuts ever, we never had them before under other councils. If the Greens stopped building tree hugging vegetarian alien shelter travellers hilton hoteks across the fast lane of the M27 that would save an absolute fortune

The prejudice against the Greens is misplaced. They are not so radical, if they were they'd get rid of the bomb factory!

How many more unemployed migrants sleeping rough on the streets? Waiting for no pay jobs to come up at the bomb factory?

Brighton and Hove is a divided city: that much hasn't changed.

Nutty Greens...I suppose we'll look forward to the next Labour run council now

Martha Gunn wrote:
Well of course Ms/Mr Resident. Quite right I didn't even start on the fraudulent consultation processes initiated under the Greenthink regime. The plan originally was that Lucas would keep the loonies in control but now it has all gone horribly pear-shaped. She has proved unable to control the nutters.
Sensible Green sympathisers all over the country are in despair at the antics of this council and wonder how it can all have gone so wrong so quickly and so spectacularly.

We now have the most laughable and derided Council in the country.
But don't bother with the e-petition, it will produce nothing - just concentrate on the next election.

No!

Vote against them and send a message, too.

Do something about this now.

The Green Administration are just out of control and not listening to the people who voted them in.

stop printing green party propaganda. We don't need council tax rises we need the council to make cuts and use the money it has responsibly, you council fools need to realize you can no longer just keep dipping into our pockets every year. Council tax is already way too much and as I use few if any council services all it amounts to is a near £100 tax a month on living in a house.

Good job this country does have gun controls otherwise kitcat would probably be history already.