Tonight we have another “pay more, get less” budget from Labour-run Reading Council.
Council tax is up by an above-inflation 4.99%. Council housing rents are up by at least 4.8%, with some rising by as much as 8.73%. Make no mistake: in the middle of a cost of living crisis, when many residents are already struggling, people will be paying more.
Public Services Are Being Cut by Labour
The budget contains £9.6 million of efficiencies and savings, or, as most people would call them, cuts. Services are being hollowed out. This is a false economy and will cost the council more in the medium term.
In housing, one business case notes the impact of the council evicting Homes for Reading tenants — not because they did anything wrong, but because the council’s housing company nearly went bust — meaning the council then has to spend more on emergency accommodation.
Rough sleeping is already at an all-time high in Reading. However, as the business case says, the council is skimping on funding to deal with the predicted rise in evictions.
The council is also getting rid of some children’s services admin staff and, as the business case says, “every post cut from the structure poses a risk to service delivery and will likely impact on the capacity of the existing teams.”
On climate change, the old Town Hall fossil fuel boilers are going to be replaced with new fossil fuel boilers. As the business case says, this option does not meet Reading Council’s carbon reduction or net zero commitments and risks locking Reading’s most prominent asset into fossil fuel heating for the next 20 years. So much for the climate emergency.
The list goes on: the children’s primary mental health team is being axed; money for getting young people into work is being cut; allotment holders are going to be charged more; there will be charges for additional recycling bins; the cleaning of buildings will be outsourced; and ticket prices at the Hexagon are going up.
This is yet another “pay more, get less” budget from Labour.
Greens want proper funding of councils
The Green Party wants to see a government that funds councils properly so they can deliver decent public services.
We need measures from Labour that support people through the cost of living crisis, not above-inflation council tax increases. We need action that tackles the housing crisis in Reading by delivering affordable and council housing, rather than bending over backwards for developers. And we need proper action to insulate homes, keep people warm and cut Reading’s carbon emissions, rather than half-hearted measures that have caused carbon emission reductions to stall in the town.
The choice at May’s council elections in Reading is clear. Do you want more managed decline under Labour? Or do you want a party that will tell the truth, work with you to improve your local area, and speak up when this Labour government is not providing enough funding to meet the level of need in the town? If you agree that Labour is failing Reading, then vote Green in May.
By Councillor Rob White (Green Party, Park Ward), Leader of the main opposition group on Reading Borough Council
