Labour are distributing a leaflet in Park Ward with misleading information. You can check the facts here:
Council tax – Labour have cut £12.6 million worth of jobs and services. In their budget papers – in black and white – this includes cuts to children's special needs transport. Rejecting a small increase in council tax this year means that Labour will either have to hike it massively next year or cut services even further.
The budget papers are 176 pages long so we have linked directly to the Directorate of Education and Children's Services budget savings proposals page here. The relevant line in the Business Transformation section is "Improvements in the administration of special needs transport service eligibility – £140,000 [cut]":
Maiden Erlegh – parents, not politicians, won this battle. Deservedly, they had the support of people from all parties - and Labour’s attempt to claim all of the credit is wrong.
Casework – quite simply, these are the official numbers from the Council! For the last quarter published for Park Ward:
Cllrs Rob White and Melanie Eastwood (Green) – 137
Jon Hartley (Labour) – 0.
Green space – Labour have permitted developers to chip away at the site between Green Road and Crescent Road for a number of years. They allowed a nursing home to be built on the tree covered Mockbeggar site on Whiteknights Road and houses on precious education land by Green Road. Labour's transport plan also still talks about putting a park-and-ride car park on Broken Brow by the Thames.
The relevant page from Labour's transport plan can be found here.
We will let the voters decide on Thursday, May 3. Vote Jamie Whitham for a third hard-working Green councillor.
1 comment:
Green Fact Checker...........
Berkshire County Council moved BYMT from Mockbeggar House to their present site at Prospect School. Mockbeggar House was left in poor condition; apart from anything else the first floor joists were not strong enough to support the pianos, instrumetns, and classes held on the first floor. BCC then declared the Mockbeggar House and garden site surplus to educational/ operational requirements. When BCC's assets were split amongst the 6 successor unitary authorities, it was required that such assets be sold, as and when, for the best possible price. (and the proceeds split between the 6 UAs. I forget how and why it got earmarked as a site to be used to address the forecast shortage of nursing home places. Labour did persuade the other authorities to leave the allotments marked, categorsed. and valued as allotments. And that the Paddock should retain the "community use" tag that BCC had been persuaded to put on it. Labour also subsequently agreed to let Ridgeline Trust have the Paddock on a peppercorn rental.
On casework, it is interesting that you conflate the figures. To hide the fact that Melanie's casework record is about the same as the average for all other councillors. And conceal the fact that many Labour councillors do do their casework, and even process it via Councillors' Services. You do not make clear that the only stats available on councillor casework are how many issues are raised via Councillors' services; there are no stats on how much casework is cleared by other means. Rather like counting the people who get on the 17 bus and ignoring those who walk or cycle and then making out that the bus passsenger count is a complete count of those going into central Reading.
Claiming credit. Pot callng the kettle black here. All parties will claim credit for everything they've contributed to achieving - jointly or separately and you are as guilty as everyone else of that.
Disraeli said it all. Probably see you tomorrow.
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