Labour’s Finance spokesman, Cllr Mike Hedges, who is the prospective Assembly candidate for Swansea East said, “This is the same tired old cliché that Cllr Holley repeats whenever he gets into difficulty. It is simply not credible. Times are hard, but Swansea is in the state it’s in, as a direct result of Cllr Holley’s incompetence and weak leadership. Instead of always seeking to blame someone else he should look to his own Administration’s disastrous management. A failed IT project, cuts across Education, a failing social services and the closure of vital respite care for the elderly and children’s homes. These are all down to Lib-Dem mismanagement and incompetence. The blame game won't wash. These are their decisions, their choices and their mistakes. And it will be their legacy".
Swansea has received a 1.9% increase from the Welsh Assembly, which equates to an additional £8million.
Labour Group Leader Cllr David Phillips said, “Chris Holley maxed out the Council’s credit card with no idea how it was to be repaid. He just hoped that something would turn up. It hasn’t. I have been warning for years that the ruinous borrowing and spending of this Lib-Dem led Administration would have to be paid for sometime. And that time is now.”
Social Services is one of the ‘big winners’ in the budget squeeze getting an additional £8.8 million, largely at the expense of Education, who will have to swallow a 0.9% real terms decrease. In addition, the Lib-Dem led Administration has refused to fund the Teachers pay increase or pay and price increases, passing these directly to schools to be funded out of their budget. Some schools are alleging that they may have to go to a four day week or even send children home because there will be insufficient teachers.
Cllr Hedges said, “Welsh schoolchildren are already £527 behind their English counterparts, these cuts will only make this situation worse. Having ruined one of the best Social Service departments in Wales, (and with our Children and Family Services in Special Measures) they are now having to invest heavily to bring it back up to standard. It’s a sad irony that it’s our children who are having to foot the bill for this. NeathPort Talbot for example have passed on the WAG increase directly and in full to schools.”
The Authority has earmarked almost all the Assembly increase for a special Contingency Fund. Cllr Hedges said, “I was not elected to put money in the bank. It should be being spent on services.”
The Lib-Dem led Administration had been planning on considerable savings coming from the controversial IT programme Service@Swansea. Instead, they are having to invest considerable further money into the programme to keep it going.
Cllr Hedges said, “We have seen nothing of the promised savings from the disastrous IT programme. I was warning from the outset that it was unrealistically ambitious. But Cllr Holley wouldn’t listen and just carried on regardless.”
Cllr Phillips said, “Cllr Holley has disposed of over £60m of Council assets in order to fund and cover-up their failures. What have the people of Swansea got to show for this? Nothing but a bigger financial black hole!"
Commenting on the planned 500-750 redundancies, Cllr Phillips said, “It’s a clear indication of the seriousness of the situation when we learn that senior staff will be going as well. But you can bet that their severance terms will be a lot more generous than the ordinary workers. Perhaps we’ll even see them back as consultants?”
He said, "However, is Cllr Holley going to apply the same principles to his Cabinet. With so many services being so drastically cut back, is there a need for a Cabinet of the same size. Will he be cutting back on his Cabinet posts? Given their abysmal performance, no-one would notice if many of them stayed at home!”.
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