Council To Deliver Lowest Tax Increase

REGENCY — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:11:02 +0000

Brighton and Hove City Council have agreed a budget which represents an increase in council tax of only 3.5% this year. Council Leader Mary Mears said, “By setting the city s lowest ever council tax increase, we’re showing residents that we understand the pressures many of them are feeling at the moment.”

Councillor Gill Mitchell, Labour group leader, said: “This is an idle budget that promotes cuts in council services and does not invest in the future of our great city.”

I, for one, am more than happy to have a lower amount of tax to pay, even though it is still significantly higher than the rate of inflation. I suppose it depends on what you consider to be ‘essential services’ and whether such things are being cut to reduce the budget. In Ms Mitchell’s own ward of East Brighton, under the last administration of which she was a part, social workers were paid to go every day to wake up children in Whitehawk, get them fed and dressed and off to school whilst their bone idle parents were asleep upstairs. I think we can do with less of that.

Council Chief ‘Retires’

REGENCY — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:34:51 +0000

Now this is an interesting one. Council chief executive Alan McCarthy is set to take early retirement, but that’s not quite how the story went originally. Initial reports on the Argus website stated that Mr. McCarthy had in fact resigned rather than retired, something opposition leader Gill Mitchell was quick to try and blame on the Tory administration, claiming that he could not work with them. Even ex-squatter, Lord Bassam, weighed in stating, “”What I worry about is the way in which the council seems to be politicising its officer appointments, when it should be the best person for the job.” Oh … excuse me! Labour have politicised every position it can find, even down to governorships of local schools (yes, there are strange little men who are governors of schools, such as St. Luke’s in Middle Street, who have never sired a child in their life, but just happen to be very active members of the local Labour Party).

Oh course Lord Bassam et al fails to identify any issue Messr. McCarthy is unhappy about which, to my mind, somewhat negates their argument.

This also raises another question – aren’t un-elected public servants such as Mr. McCarthy just meant to be carrying out the decisions of elected councillors rather than the other way around, the latter seeming to be the case in recent years? Interestingly, councillors are required to detail their interests ever year, but council officers are not. It’s incredible what one can find out with regard to top officers’ directorships and shareholdings if you care to dig around!

Brighton & Hove's REGENCY Magazine » Alan McCarthy

Council To Deliver Lowest Tax Increase

Council Chief ‘Retires’