THE cuts in Government grant suffered by Redditch have been raised at the Labour Party conference by Councillor John Fisher (Lab, M’boro) the man responsible for finance at Redditch Borough Council.
Coun Fisher has been lobbying to promote Redditch’s case at Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool. He has met several high profile Labour MPs, Lords and shadow ministers to explain the what the funding cuts will do to the town.
“Despite the massive cuts to our budget over the last five years the town will see a further £3 million cut and the end of any grant from central government,” said Coun Fisher.
“Amazingly, we will be forced to pay £300,000 back to the government in a few years time, when the new system of negative grant begins.”
Despite this, he said he was proud of the record of the Labour-run council, which were borne out by the results of this year’s local elections which saw Labour retain control.
“We’ve worked very hard to protect and improve our services, particularly to the most vulnerable residents, keeping our promises on free swimming and concessionary bus travel. We’ve achieved this by developing new ideas and ways of working, making savings not cutting services,” he said.
Redditch has also recently secured funding from both the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership and Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership to support a local training company to double the number of apprentices.
The borough has become an associate member of the West Midlands Combined Authority, and Coun Fisher discussed its future with Sion Simon, Labour’s candidate for the role of Regional Mayor.
“Joining the ‘Midlands Powerhouse’ was opposed by local Tories, but Labour want to work closely with our neighbours in the West Midlands to get a New Deal for Redditch,” said Coun Fisher.
Mr Simon added: “Redditch is a great example of what Labour can achieve in local government. They’ve put Labour values into action, protecting services and prioritising those most in need. They’ve done this with vision, hard work and innovation.”
