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So the first ever Conservative Budget in Harlow has been passed.
It was not the budget we wanted, and it was not an easy thing to do, but as I have discussed here previously it was something that had to happen to put the council on a firm footing again.
But lets remember some important things that this council had to deal with first:
- £860,000 Difference between the grant for Gordon Brown’s “free” bus passes and the actual cost.
- £500,000 Labour Government’s ‘Gershon efficiency’ savings the Council must find.
- £3,000,000 Every year, to top up the pension fund after Gordon Brown’s 1997 Smash and Grab raid.
- £196,000 Loss of Planning Delivery Grant. o £140,000 Loss of LABGI grant
- £346,000 Forced Labour Government transfer to Housing Revenue Account
- £750,000 Extra years of pensions granted by previous Labour Councils.
- £177,000 Cost of 30 Redundancies made in Labour/Liberal’s 08/09 Budget.
- £400,000 Inflation cost, catered for by Labour Government,
- £250,000 Repay insurance fund, after Labour/Liberal “borrowing”.
- £50,000 Repay earmarked reserves “borrowed” to prop up Labour/Liberal 08/09 budget
- £20,000 Cost of implementing Labour Government’s “International Financial Reporting Standards”£860,000
Thats a total of £6,512,000 to be found before one pound is spent on services for the people of Harlow.
That’s £83.49 for each person (including children) in Harlow this year before paying for real services.
The true Legacy for Harlow of the Labour and Liberal run administrations, and the Labour Government.