Labour’s £78,000 raid on reserves voted down

The leader of the Labour group on Rugby Borough Council, Cllr Claire Edwards, started off well tonight (24 February) pointing out that "We are not paying our way". This is true as the Council is raiding its reserves to freeze Council Tax.

What then was Labour's solution to the problem they had correctly identified? Why to increase expenditure by £78,000 !!! Cllr Edwards proposed giving each councillor £1,500 to be allocated to charities and community groups in their wards. This would cost £63,000. On top of this she allowed for £15,000 administration costs making a grand total of £78,000 of extra expenditure. It was perhaps not surprising that only 10 councillors could be found to support her proposal and the scheme was voted down.