The Conservative record
- The Conservatives have taken a debt-free Authority and run up borrowings of over £200m in just a few years. Over the next 3 years they plan to increase the debt to over £300m.
- At the same time they have levied just about the highest council tax of any county council in England.
- All this while the grant from the Government has shot up from £231m a year to £366m a year. A rise of £135m or nearly 60%.
- Care of the elderly, meanwhile, is among the worst in the country.
- Our roads are officially in ‘Managed Decline’.
- Performance of the Dorset Pension Fund dropped to the bottom 10% of County Funds.
- Nearly £90m property maintenance backlog
The Liberal Democrats will:
- Get a grip on the finances
- Increase spending on our older population
- Improve road maintenance in Dorset.
Over the last few years Dorset’s Conservative-controlled County Council has lurched from crisis to crisis. Urgent action is needed!
- The Tories have taken a debt free Authority and run up borrowings in just a few years of over £200m. Over the next 3 years they plan to increase the debt to over £300m.
- At the same time they have levied just about the highest council tax of any county council in England.
- All this while the grant from the Government has shot up from £231m a year to £366m a year. That’s a rise of £135m or nearly 60%.
- Dorset’s services for the elderly are now among the worst in the country
- Our roads are officially in ‘Managed Decline’, repair backlog £140m.
- Dorset’s rural roads have one of the highest accident rates in the country.
- There is a serious maintenance backlog of nearly £90m on County premises.
- The Council’s salary bill has gone up from £200m in 2001 to £330m today.
What have the Tories done with our money?
- More than £28m is frozen in Icelandic Banks.
- Millions have been lost from the Dorset Pension Fund which is now in the bottom 10% of all County Funds.
- More than £3m has been spent on Consultants’ fees in the last 18 months.
- £68m is invested in mysterious Hedge Funds, including £2.3m lost to Mr Madoff, the biggest swindler in history.
And what have they done with our services?
- The Tories have attempted to cut many vital services, like libraries and day centres.
- They have let other services decline and run down, especially Adult Services and road maintenance.
- They have failed to meet the environmental challenges facing us.
- They have failed to get the European funding which has poured into other counties like Wiltshire and Cornwall, creating jobs and improving services.
- What is worse is that many key decisions were taken in secret, by the Conservatives behind closed doors. Other County Councillors were not even able to discuss them in public.
Things you have said to us about Dorset County Council:
- They pretend to consult and then just go ahead and do what they want anyway!
- They do not listen to ordinary people.
- They make poor and incompetent decisions.
- They force us to protest to simply get our voice heard.
- From libraries to care homes to re-cycling centres to the state of our roads, we have had to fight them every step of the way to get basic services delivered.
Again and again over the last four years Liberal Democrats have supported YOU in protesting against these poorly made decisions.
Liberal Democrats have a different approach.
We believe in open government, proper control over public money, your money, and real consultation where your views are heard and taken into account. We believe all councillors should be involved in the decisions that affect communities, not just the chosen few. Enough is enough. It is time to end weak leadership and incompetence.
Doing thing differently
Liberal Democrats will keep a firm grip on the finances and look after the money we do have carefully
Liberal Democrats will:
- Reduce bureaucracy & internal spending.
- Reduce reliance on costly consultants
- Set targets to prevent cost overruns on County projects.
- Spend tax payers’ money on vital services for the tax payers.
- Cut out waste, partner with neighbouring authorities, pool resources.
- Freeze unsupported borrowing.
- Exercise strict control on recruitment and stem the constantly rising salary bill. Up from £200m in 2001 to £330m today.
- Halve spending on Public Relations, redirecting the funds saved to frontline services.
Then we will be able to repair the damage to services done by the Conservatives.
Doing thing differently
Liberal Democrats will make the Council open, accessible and accountable
Liberal Democrats will:
- Make it easier for working people to take part in meetings.
- Review meeting times and hold some meetings in the evenings and Saturdays if necessary.
- Create Area Committees to bring local government to the doorstep, not always at County Hall.
- Hold key meetings concerning decisions that affect a local community in that community.
- Take decisions in open session and not in secret, behind closed doors.
- Consult people properly, giving you chance to discuss all the options and tell us what you think. Our decisions will take your responses into account.
- Work closely with elected Town and Parish Councils and treat them with respect as local representatives.
- Under the Conservatives, the largely unelected Dorset Strategic Partnership has held too much sway.
Older people deserve a fair deal
Liberal Democrats will:
- Increase investment in care for the elderly and vulnerable – reversing the disastrous £5m cuts the Conservatives made.
- Increase the number of elderly people receiving home care. Under the Conservatives Dorset has just about the worst record in the whole country for assisting elderly people to live at home with dignity
- Restore home care to people in High Moderate need.
- Involve voluntary organisations & family carers in making policy & setting budgets.
- Cut the bureaucracy at County Hall, cut management costs and spend the money on front line services.
- Recognise and respect the needs of Dorset’s many older people, who have paid all their lives to fund a service they now rely on, and which is letting them down.
Our children are our future
Liberal Democrats will:
- Embark on an enhanced maintenance programme of our existing schools and rebuild those that need it.
- Consult you properly before making any changes to the education system.
- Support Governors and Head teachers and reduce interference and the burden of bureaucracy and red tape.
- Continue to support our excellent Youth Service.
- Protect our children and support the social workers charged with this duty by ensuring there is adequate funding for the service.
Supporting Dorset’s communities
Liberal Democrats will:
- Make the Sustainable Communities Act work properly by devolving decision making down to local communities.
- Recognise that Libraries are central to communities, and give them more resources.
- Buy more books and reinstate free internet access.
- Offer increased support for the Arts
Meeting the environmental challenge
Liberal Democrats will:
- Reduce landfill and provide facilities that will help the District and Borough councils to collect all the waste streams i.e. plastic, food waste and garden waste. You have told us you want to recycle more and we want to deliver.
- Reduce our CO2 emissions, running more efficient vehicles and getting our schools, youth centres and communities involved in meeting tougherstandards.
- Setup a green task force to accelerate action on emissions reduction in all our county buildings and develop a more sustainable approach to all our business.
- Appoint a dedicated cycling officer with delegated budget to encourage cycling, particularly working with our schools and youth service.
- Work with the business community & District and Borough Councils to set up a local carbon emission trading scheme that will benefit Dorset eco projects.
- Help our schools to reduce their energy consumption.
Supporting Dorset’s Economy
Liberal Democrats will:
- Be effective at drawing down money for Dorset from Europe.
- Encourage sustainable and high tech industry to equip Dorset’s economy for the 21st century.
- Use the opportunity offered to us during the down turn in the economy to invest in new green initiatives and also boost local employment.
- Use the business weight of the council to make a real difference by ensuring that our suppliers’ invoices are paid more quickly.
- Encourage more use of apprenticeships to build for the future.
- Set up a business support group meeting regularly and pooling a business support fund with other local councils to encourage enterprise
- Consider lending money to Credit Unions, we think this is safer than lending to Icelandic Banks!
Improving roads and public transport
Liberal Democrats will:
- Reinstate regular maintenance on our rural and residential roads.
- Improve road safety.
- Develop a proper public transport plan that will serve Dorset people in the future
