As Leader of Bradford Council I share Coun Hawkesworth’s concerns regarding the future of council services given the massive cuts to council funding imposed by her Government.

Council funding will be cut by £80 million over the next two years with the bulk of that in year one.

We’ve also seen capital budgets for transport and highways, housing and education slashed. Not content with cancelling Building Schools for the Future, the government has seen fit to slash education capital by £20 million when we know that the district faces a significant shortage of school places. All this at a time when demand for council services is increasing, particularly in education and social care.

The Government has ignored calls from local authorities to phase the cuts over time and has pig-headedly insisted on ‘front loading’ them, leaving the council with little time to plan for the reductions. We are already making savings through strict vacancy control, restructuring senior management, and increasing efficiency and believe that we can make significant savings in future years by improving efficiency further.

However the scale and speed of the cuts mean that efficiency savings alone will be insufficient and hard choices will have to be made. I have tried to ensure that the current budget process is open, with all the main political groups invited to the table to discuss priorities. I have no doubt that Coun Hawkesworth will share the results of her consultation with the people of Ilkley with us and I am more than happy to take their views into account as we take difficult decisions.

But be in no doubt that the cuts, when they come, are not council cuts but the result of political choices made by a Government that simply won’t listen and is hellbent on attacking public services and local government, and be in no doubt that all parts of the district will, inevitably, be affected.

Coun Ian Greenwood

Leader, Bradford MDC