The
next Cabinet item was the usual one. Money; and as always the overspends were
with both Children’s and Adults’ services particularly SEND transport.
The Places Directorate underspent by £2 million. They didn’t build the promised houses. Both
BexleyCo and Highways suffered slippages.
Council Tax collections were 0·8% below target and worse than last year.
Cash balances dropped to £21·6 million at the end of the last financial year.
The current year, and it is early days at present, is forecasting an overspend
too. Another £2·1 million due to the usual suspects. It might have been worse
but £2·7 million is being pumped in from contingency reserves.
BexleyCo continues to unwittingly bale out the Council with a £26 million
slippage on what might have been. Staff have rejected a 3·2% pay increase which
is more bad news for Council Taxpayers.
The National Insurance Increases (the higher headline rate but maybe even more damaging, the lowered threshold) imposed by the Labour Government have put huge
extra costs on the care providers which makes contract negotiations very
difficult. Some of the providers are “price gouging” (£16,000 a week to look
after one badly behaved child) and whilst Labour promised to clamp down on it they have in practice done nothing.
Labour Leader Stefano Borella said this was because the Tory’s huge mess was taking time to sort out.
There were lengthy speeches on transforming services in line with changing needs
and technology. The issue has been discussed for many years and is obviously a
necessity but whether it works (FixMyStreet was held up as an example) as well
as the Council would have you believe is less certain. I totally failed to get through the system relating to Parking Services
(circular references and full mail boxes) and
my FOI on the subject is due to be answered any day now.
Cabinet Member Melvin Seymour with his responsibility for vulnerable adults was
also concerned about the inaccessibility of some services.
Note: For those wondering about the relevancy of the
associated image; there is none; but it is a very rare X post by the Council
Leader. One might wonder if she is planning on pushing herself forward over the
coming months now that there is a very good chance that she will lose the Crook Log seat come next May.
We could swap a Councillor who reports me to the police for harassment with one
from another party who reports me to the police for harassment. It was actually
100% support which was recently acknowledged; but liars will be liars and can never be reformed.