Proposed by Councillor Phil Davies

Seconded by Councillor Steve Foulkes

(1)  This Council recognises that action needs to be taken to address the financial challenges arising from the global recession. However, it notes that according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies, the measures set out by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Budget on the 22 June, are “regressive” with cuts to public services which will hit “poorer households significantly harder than richer households”.

(2)  Council condemns:

(i)  The £5.5m of cuts in revenue which the Government has instructed this Council to find in this financial year, and the £4m loss of Capital. This is part of the £6bn of cuts which during the general election campaign the Liberal Democrats argued was unnecessary.

(ii)  The proposed increase in VAT from 17.5% to 20%. This will be profoundly regressive and breaks an explicit promise made during the election by both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

(iii)  The proposed cuts of £11bn in welfare benefits which will hit the poorest members of communities the hardest.

(iv)  The proposed 25% cuts in departmental spending, which, if applied to Local Government grant, would leave Wirral needing to find up to £100m cuts over three years. Again, these departmental cuts will impact disproportionately on people in the poorest communities who rely more on public services than residents elsewhere.

(3)  Council notes that the motion passed by the Cabinet on the 24 June fails to identify a single penny of savings and proposes measures such as the ending of sandwiches for members which will realise a tiny fraction of the savings targets for the next 3 years. Furthermore, the announcement of 8 reviews of various issues indicates that the administration has no clear vision of the future.

(4)  Council calls on the ruling coalition to lobby their Government to reverse their cuts which will bring huge job losses and misery to hundreds of Wirral residents and adopt the more reasonable deficit-reduction plan proposed by the Labour Party which had already started to reduce the deficit and placed greater emphasis on asking those on higher incomes to pay more and avoided cuts to front-line services.

(5)  Council condemns the utter hypocrisy of the Liberal Democrats who, by agreeing to measures such as an increase in VAT, have surrendered any claims to be a Party of progressive values and are helping to deliver the ideological agenda of the right wing of the Tory Party. Council recognises that the Labour Party is now the only progressive Party in Britain and calls on all those who previously supported the Lib Dems to join Labour and help defend the attacks on public services and the poorest members of the community by the Coalition Government.

Amendment submitted in accordance with Standing Order 7(2):

Proposed by Councillor Jeff Green

Seconded by Councillor Lesley Rennie

Delete all after ‘(1) This Council recognises that action needs to be taken to address the financial challenges arising from the global recession’ and replace with:

and recognises the distress, anger and upset caused to people across Wirral, including some of the most deprived communities by the previous Government, such as cuts to public services and abolition of the 10p starting rate of Income Tax for the lowest paid.

(2)  Council also notes that while other countries went into recession later and returned to growth faster, the UK economy suffered the longest period of recession and the longest domestic recession since the 1930s.

(3)  Council believes that the action taken by the Coalition Government will restore the nation’s finances and also enable fairer, greener taxes and protection for the most vulnerable, including:

·  Raising the personal allowance for under 65s by £1,000 in April 2011, with the gains limited to basic rate taxpayers. The Government estimates that the 880,000 lowest income taxpayers will be removed from tax altogether.

·  the introduction of a levy based on banks’ balance sheets and action on unacceptable bank bonuses.

·  freezing council tax In 2011-12, in partnership with local authorities.

·  a triple guarantee to help pensioners by uprating the Basic State Pension by earnings, prices or 2.5 per cent, whichever is highest.

·  an increase in the child element of the Child Tax Credit of £150 above CPI indexation.

Amendment submitted in accordance with Standing Order 7(2):

Proposed by Councillor Simon Holbrook

Seconded by: Councillor Bob Moon

Delete all after 1st sentence in paragraph (1) – and insert:

and the financial and regulatory mismanagement of the previous Labour Government. Council notes that the overall impact of all the measures in the Chancellor’s Budget of 22nd June was progressive, building on the coalition’s principles of freedom, fairness and responsibility.

(2)  Council recognises that a series of progressive measures were announced in the Chancellor’s Budget that will:-

(i)  lift at least 850,000 low-paid taxpayers out of income tax.

(ii)  restore the link between the state pension and earnings (or prices or 2.5%, whichever is higher).

(iii)  provide an extra £150 a year for the poorest families, through changes to family tax credits.

(iv)  increase capital gains tax to 28% for top rate taxpayers.

(3)  Council recognises that the public understands that action is needed to address the unsustainable levels of government debt and applauds the initiative taken nationally by the Coalition Government and locally by Wirral’s Cabinet to engage with the public on their priorities for future public spending of taxpayer’s money.  Council further notes that this represents a continuation of the Council’s policy on engagement agreed with all party support on 15th February 2010.

(4)  Council is outraged but not surprised at the utter hypocrisy of the Labour Party for its failure to be honest with the public about the scale and impact of the budget reductions needed as a result of its own party’s mistakes in government, and for suggesting that the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are wrong to consult the public on the difficult challenges that lie ahead.

Having applied the guillotine in accordance with Standing Order 7(8) the Council did not debate this matter.

Councillor Green agreed to accept Councillor Holbrook’s amendment as a friendly amendment and the combined amendments were put and carried (41:21) (One abstention) –

Resolved (41:21:1) –

(1)  This Council recognises that action needs to be taken to address the financial challenges arising from the global recession and recognises the distress, anger and upset caused to people across Wirral, including some of the most deprived communities by the previous Labour Government’s financial and regulatory mismanagement, such as cuts to public services and abolition of the 10p starting rate of Income Tax for the lowest paid. Council notes that the overall impact of all the measures in the Chancellor’s Budget of 22 June was progressive, building on the coalition’s principles of freedom, fairness and responsibility.

(2)  Council also notes that while other countries went into recession later and returned to growth faster, the UK economy suffered the longest period of recession and the longest domestic recession since the 1930s.

(3)  Council believes that the action taken by the Coalition Government will restore the nation’s finances and also enable fairer, greener taxes and protection for the most vulnerable, including:

·  Raising the personal allowance for under 65s by £1,000 in April 2011, with the gains limited to basic rate taxpayers. The Government estimates that the 880,000 lowest income taxpayers will be removed from tax altogether.

·  the introduction of a levy based on banks’ balance sheets and action on unacceptable bank bonuses.

·  freezing council tax In 2011-12, in partnership with local authorities.

·  a triple guarantee to help pensioners by uprating the Basic State Pension by earnings, prices or 2.5 per cent, whichever is highest.

·  an increase in the child element of the Child Tax Credit of £150 above CPI indexation.

·  increase capital gains tax to 28% for top rate taxpayers.

(4)  Council recognises that the public understands that action is needed to address the unsustainable levels of government debt and applauds the initiative taken nationally by the Coalition Government and locally by Wirral’s Cabinet to engage with the public on their priorities for future public spending of taxpayer’s money. Council further notes that this represents a continuation of the Council’s policy on engagement agreed with all party support on 15 February 2010.

(5)  Council is outraged but not surprised at the utter hypocrisy of the Labour Party for its failure to be honest with the public about the scale and impact of the budget reductions needed as a result of its own party’s mistakes in government, and for suggesting that the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are wrong to consult the public on the difficult challenges that lie ahead.