No more Punch and Judy show

Councillors are being called upon to replace Punch and Judy politics with making practical decisions for the good of the city.

Union figures slammed “political posturing” for putting more council jobs at risk to compound an “already disastrous approach”.

Councillors now have four days to find a solution with the spectre of industrial action looming in the background.

Uncertainty still remains over whether an agreement will be found with the prospect of an unprecedented Government intervention and subsequent fierce union resistance on the horizon.

To break the limbo, the Conservative group has called on Labour to back a freeze, claiming its the option with the most support, while Labour have said a compromise 1.99% rise agreement would give gains for all parties.

Securing the compromise agreement on Tuesday will rely on the support of the large majority of Green members but a significant portion have vowed to reject all budget options in protest at savage cuts to local government funding.

Six Green councillors, including the party’s deputy convenor Ruth Buckley and planning committee chairman Phelim MacCafferty, voted against their own party’s 5.9% rise saying “enough is enough” to austerity from the “Bullingdon bullies of Whitehall”.

Coun Buckley said that she respected the views of her Green colleagues that were sticking to the party policy of a 5.9% rise, but she could not support any more cuts.

She said: “The two positions in our party, they are not internal factions, they are the two most mature positions to take in the face of these cuts.

“It all comes down to principles and I will not be putting my name to anything that harms residents at all and which can lead to people’s deaths.”

Former Green councillor Ben Duncan spelt out an alternative approach to the budget system during Thursday’s meeting, claiming that Government officials would not bring harsh cuts to the city council while Conservatives fight to hold two marginal city seats. He believes the Government would find extra money “down the back of a sofa somewhere in the Treasury”.

But council insiders warn that failure to set a balanced budget would cause great “reputational damage” for the city, hit businesses which are reliant on council contracts and see council tax income dry up.

Union figures agree that the arrival of central government officers would spell disaster for the city and would be met with fierce resistance and possible industrial action from unions.

UNISON is furious that last-minute “cynical electioneering” budget amendments have put more council posts at risk with proposals to save the mayor’s support staff funded by the loss of up to seven posts from the council’s communication teams.

The union is also questioning the “legality” of funding services by reducing contributions to the staff pension fund and said that proposed cuts to up to five posts from the assistant chief executives’ office could be prevented by cutting councillor’s allowances by 20%.

Branch secretary Alex Knutsen said his members would be balloted for strike action if Whitehall commissioners were appointed to carry out “slash and burn” budget cuts.

He said: “UNISON will not have outsiders coming in and blindly destroying services for the residents of Brighton and Hove and decimating jobs for our members.

“It will be a major dispute, more than we have seen so far, and I expect that we would receive tremendous support from the people of Brighton and Hove as well as nationally.”

Even the date of the next budget meeting has become a bone of contention with councillors.

Conservative councillor Mary Mears said that previously secondary budget meetings were held a week later with councillors planning for that eventuality, meaning that almost a quarter of the Conservative group could be unavailable for Tuesday’s crunch meeting.

She said: “I thought it [Thursday’s meeting] would be a stalemate but it was absolutely shambolic.

“Now the budget is going to be decided by how many members from each group can turn up and that’s not democracy.

“I guess it will be down to the Green members but I can’t see the rump of the Greens compromising, they made their position very clear and I can’t see them changing.”

Green councillor Bill Randall said the stalemate was due to the tight split between Labour, Conservative and Green councillors.

He said: “It’s the result of having a minority council and I expect we will have another minority administration after the election and then we will have another four years of this.

“We [The Greens] had a long meeting and with the compromise agreement we felt we wanted a bit more time to look at it. It is a really important decision and very difficult just to look at it in ten minutes and then half an hour so the sensible and rational decision was to come back next week.

“They [Green councillors opposed to all cuts] hold strong views and we don’t have a whipping system. The views were strong but the meeting was civilised, there were not rows, there were very reasonable discussions about different points of view.”

Councillor Warren Morgan, leader of the Labour and Co-operative Group, said his party put “a reasonable and sensible compromise” on the table to keep children’s centres open, funding for voluntary groups, parking charge freezes and protection for children with special needs services.

He said Thursday’s meeting had made the council and the city look like a “laughing stock.

“The Conservatives stuck obstinately to their position and although I did reach an agreement with the Green leader, other Green councillors were not happy. There was nothing they asked for that we did not say yes to but they weren’t prepared to make a deal.

“Saving the children’s centres was my red line and my intention is to still try and save them.”

Councillor Geoffrey Theobald, Conservative group leader, said: “It was clear that the council tax freeze option had the greatest amount of support amongst members of the council.

“I, therefore, feel very strongly that it is incumbent upon Labour Group members in particular to compromise when we meet again next week to try and set a lawful Budget.

“I urge the Labour Group, the smallest political group on the council, to compromise and help us deliver what the residents of this city clearly want – a council tax freeze.”

Can Labour persuade the parties to vote for 1.99%

How will the impasse be solved?

The 1.99% council tax rise seems the most likely option on the table as a half-way house agreement.

But can outgoing leader Jason Kitcat convince enough of his councillors to follow him into a compromise without a whip to discipline his party.

Dropping from a 1.99% rise from 5.9% is also a big leap to sell to Green supporters, many of whom feel that even that does not go far enough in the face of huge funding cuts.

The Conservatives could make that easier by abstaining from the vote and allowing for a lower majority of Labour and Greens but this is not being explored by the party who have consistently called for a freeze.

As a party with the second-highest number of councillors, they resent having a smaller party dictating terms.

Greens still hold hope for a 5.9% rise and referendum but it is difficult to see who else will support it when not even all their councillors giver their backing.

The surprise factor could be independent councillor Christina Summers and Ukip Leigh Farrow, who rejected all three budgets on Thursday night.

The compromise agreement

The compromise agreement yet to be decided upon:

• All children’s centres to be preserved
• Funding for Rise domestic abuse refuges
• Protect Discretionary Grants Programme
• Protect Pride funding l Retain political assistants
• Freeze business permits and visitor permits
• Protection for youth work and children with disability
• Protect the mayoralty office
• Protect funding for Able and Willing
• Sustainability budget protected

To be funded by newly-made funds from corporate landlord contracts

• Seaside Homes
• HR efficiencies
• Referendum set-aside costs

Stalemate not popular with readers

A second budget stalemate in two years has not gone down well with Argus readers commenting on our website.

Valeria said: Ashamed to be a Brightonian at times, an absolute disgrace, can't wait to vote in May.

Rubbish collection continuing problems, among many others and yet they have protected the mayor's office?

Let’s hope the next council will get our priorities right.

Fight_Back said: “It really is Deja Vu. This happened last year.

“Greens propose an inflation and utterly unrealistic council tax rise. Labour propose a rise just below the referendum level and the Tories propose a freeze.

“Then hey presto, after all the egotistical theatricals the middle ground is found at the last minute.

“They really all are completely pathetic. How would they cope in the real business world? They wouldn't.”

Threatened bus services saved

THREATENED bus services have been saved after facing the axe due to council budget cuts.

Brighton and Hove City Council and Brighton and Hove Bus Company announced yesterday (FRI) the threatened 21 and 21A service, from Brighton Marina, through Whitehawk to Goldstone Valley, and peak time 84 service, between Whitehawk, Woodingdean and the universities, have been saved.

The bus company will also be teaming up with operator Compass Travel to protect the services and will be introducing a new 37 daytime route to replace the outgoing 38 service.

The 37 will be incorporate the 38 route and will run between Meadowview, the city centre and the Bristol Estate.

Negotiations are continuing between Compass Travel to introduce evening 37 services.

The bus company and council have said the maintained services will be “at no cost to the local taxpayer”.

Councillor Ian Davey, pictured above said "We have worked, and will continue to work hard with our partners to minimise the impact of government budget cuts on supported bus services in the city.

“I would like to thank both Brighton and Hove Buses and Compass for their co-operation and for stepping in at this challenging time. I am confident that with our continuing strong partnership bus use will continue to grow in the city"

Details of the new timetables will be published in the coming weeks.

Martin Harris, managing director of Brighton and Hove Buses, added: "We know how much of a concern a risk to bus services causes and we committed early on to working with the council to find a solution.

“It was important that we moved quickly but for so much of the services involved to have been saved in such a short time is a remarkable success."

Chris Chatfield, managing director of Compass Travel, said “ We are pleased to be taking over the daytime operation of route 37 from April and will do all we can to work with the council to come to an agreement that will enable the evening service to continue”.

Henry Holloway