Cllr Mike Cox - Gazette Article March 2007

10.00.00pm GMT Wed 7th Mar 2007

Last week Council gathered to set the budget and council tax for 2007/8. It is one of the most important meetings of the year. For the last 20 years there has been a tradition that the lead spokesman for each party has unlimited time to address the meeting to do justice to hundreds of pages of complex budget papers. This year it changed. The new Conservative masters decided to give themselves 20 minutes (which they didn't use), Labour got 10 minutes and the Liberal Democrat just 3.

This restriction on speaking rights comes hard on the heels of bans on speaking at Cabinet and Scrutiny meetings, and reductions in the questions and motions, which opposition councillors can table to only 1 per meeting. I accept the Conservatives won the local elections in May 2006. I do not accept that this is what people voted for. A good administration (of any political party) needs a strong and healthy opposition. What is this administration so afraid of?

There was a lot of hype this year about problems with Asylum Seeking Children. All parties in Hillingdon agree that Hillingdon tax residents have had a raw deal. However when parliament has 2 committees looking at these problems it is the administrations duty to put our case across. To date the Conservative administration has not done so.

The Conservatives will claim credit for being one of the first Councils to introduce a 2% discount for people over 65 costing £400,000, but fail to explain that £3.2million of the "so called" saving are cuts to services that affect the elderly.

Discounts may provide a small relief to a few. That relief will be short lived for those who may no longer qualify for Homecare because their entitlement has been stopped.

If you have examples of cuts that are being made please write to me at the Civic Centre Uxbridge UB8 1UW or email me at mcox@hillingdon.gov.uk