During the 2022 Budget, your Conservative councillors proposed an amendment to the Labour budget which would see a lower council tax, and better services, funded by efficiencies, not cuts.
We want to see more investment into cleaner, safer neighbourhoods, better roads and the education of our children.
Watch Group Leader, Cllr David Hall, make the case for a better way for Kirklees.
Transcript below;
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I shall save some of my comments to speak on the substantive motion after the votes on the amendment. But just to say that, I think really I'm going to propose something else this year, because I think that those that are moving the amendments from the various groups, the time they are allowed, should be inversely proportionate to the amount of words that they've put in the budget amendment because we're really going into a rather silly stage.
And this happened about, I think it was 2015. Where one of the groups put an amendment in without any figures in it. And ever since then, these papers have been getting longer and longer and longer. And we now almost have a speech written out. So I'd like to propose, I'll propose at the next leaders meeting that next year.
Actually, we put figures in the budget amendment and nothing else and leave it to the speeches, anyway that's an aside. Can I thank those of you that have already made comments? I agree entirely with what Cllr Iredale said about reinstatement of roadworks.
We have to acknowledge that these budget amendments which are submitted are merely statements of political direction. Because the opposition groups do not have the resources and are not given the time to actually work up the budgets, which the administration can do. And I think we have to acknowledge that we can't cost them to the nearest pound, it's just not something that we can do.
Just coming to some of the comments that should be made by other members. Yes, we have a rather desperate direction from the Labour benches at the moment on how to try and attack our amendment, because the speakers so far have said, "oh, yes, we should be putting an extra money into this, but you shouldn't have put it in your amendment."
Cllr Kendrick said, "Yes, we shouldn't really be putting this extra money into educational attainment. We shouldn't really be putting this extra money in to SEND". Well, you know, I invite you, Labour group - vote against it. We've put the extra money in there. We're saying we will invest more in SEND, we will invest more in educational attainment.
By all means, vote against that. And we'll make sure that it's loud and clear in our political literature in May. Cllr O'Donovan again, a rather desperate attack on the Conservative amendment. Yes, it does use the word 'alarmed'. It says we are alarmed. The Conservative group is alarmed. It's the Conservative group that has been frightened by the Labour proposals. We're not saying anybody else has and we're not intending to frighten anybody else.
He makes light of the fact that many of our ideas, many of the ideas that were actually in our last year's budget amendment, have subsequently been adopted by the Labour budget. There is a lot of stuff in the Labour budget which we could welcome an awful lot. And I think if anybody in this room actually read through the budget and the amendments, I'm pretty sure they would agree with about 97% of everything that is in the amendment and the budget. We're actually arguing about an awfully small amount compared to the total of the budget.
So, you know, it's okay saying "oh it wasn't in last years" but if last years is subsequently being adopted, it would be rather silly to put it in this years. And then of course, he spends more time actually dwelling on what isn't in the Conservative amendment rather than what is, but guess what? That's your job. If you want something in the budget, you've got to talk to your own group to get it in the budget.
It's no use complaining that it isn't in ours. You've got to do that and tackle it yourself. I will make some more comments later when I address the motion, Mr. Mayor, about affordability, because I don't think enough has been said about that, but I'll leave it there for now.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
