Bradford Conservatives

The Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Green Party Groups on Bradford Council have reached agreement on the local authority’s budget for the next financial year including a below-inflation Council Tax increase of 2.5%.

The three Group Leaders Cllr Kris Hopkins (Con), Cllr Jeanette Sunderland (Lib Dem) and Cllr Martin Love (Green) presented a joint budget document to a meeting of the Council’s Executive in City Hall earlier today.

The proposals will now go forward for the approval of full Council on Thursday afternoon.

Speaking after the Executive meeting, Cllr Hopkins said he was glad that agreement had been found after a week of intensive negotiations.

“I would like to thank Jeanette, Martin and their colleagues for the responsible approach they adopted as we worked to reach an agreement in the best interests of Bradford district,” he commented.  “Bradford is a balanced council and appropriate compromises must be reached.”

“Despite being invited to play a full part in our discussions, it is regrettable that the Labour Group once again took the decision to absent themselves from the budget process, thereby depriving its own supporters of a direct say in where their Council Tax money will be spent.

“On behalf of the Conservative Group, I am delighted that we have secured significant new funding for schools, Odsal Sporting Village, the City Park, a new health centre in Keighley and community hubs. As well as the large scale improvements to the district’s infrastructure, it is hoped that these projects will lead to the creation of significant numbers of new jobs for local residents.

“Many other schemes and community groups will also benefit including through the provision of improved facilities for older people, new play and parenting schemes, bursaries for sporting and academic excellence, better access to professional financial and legal advice, and high quality health and wellbeing cafes.

“At a time of great economic difficulty for many people living in our district, I believe we have found an affordable, responsible but also imaginative way forward. Crucially, it is a vision that we have a collective determination to deliver.”

Liberal Democrat Group Leader Cllr Jeanette Sunderland said:

“Securing more resources to raise educational achievement, to provide additional apprenticeships for young people, to protect adults in need of social care and to mitigate against some of the worst effects of the recession across the district were the Liberal Democrat Group’s principal goals in these negotiations and I am satisfied that all of these objectives have been achieved.

“On the capital side, securing the money necessary to keep the Building Schools for the Future programme moving forward was our top priority alongside funding for a new school for children with special educational needs or behavioural difficulties.  Again, we have managed to do this as well as offer support to some of the district’s other major capital schemes such as the Odsal Sporting Village and the City Park.

“Alongside my Liberal Democrat colleagues, I now look forward to playing my full part in ensuring that these budget proposals are implemented.”

Green Party Group Leader Cllr Martin Love said:

“As last year, I am pleased to have had the opportunity on behalf of my Group to inject a definite green tinge into this year’s Council budget.

“Reducing our carbon emissions and having the environment at the core of our thinking when deciding how Bradford Council should best provide its services is not a luxury but a necessity in today’s world.

“The Greens will continue to play our lead role in reminding councillors of all parties and officers of this reality over the next twelve months and, hopefully, far beyond.”

The Bradford Council Conservative Group has today tabled budget proposals which include a Council Tax rise of just 1.8% in the next financial year.

In 2008-09, the Tory-led authority agreed the lowest increase of any council in Yorkshire and Humber at 2.2%.

Explaining the move, Bradford Council Conservative Leader Cllr Kris Hopkins said he believed it vital that the local authority did everything it could to assist residents across the district cope with the worsening economic situation.

“Councils are somewhat limited in their ability to stimulate the economy in their locality, but one thing we can do is keep Council Tax rises down to a minimum,” said Cllr Hopkins.  “We achieved this in Bradford district in the current year and, with the support of other parties in Council, hopefully we can do it again in the next financial year.”

The small rise in Council tax was just one of a very wide-ranging set of proposals unveiled by the Conservative Group Leader at a meeting of the Council’s Executive in Bradford City Hall earlier today.

In addition to a series of cost-saving measures across all of the Council’s Departments including cutbacks in staffing levels, merging of services and tougher efficiency targets, Cllr Hopkins announced plans to inject millions of pounds of capital spending into a number of high profile regeneration and sporting projects including the delivery of the City Park, Odsal Sporting Village, a city centre swimming pool, a new health centre in Keighley, community hubs in both Baildon and Bingley and an older people’s centre in the heart of Bradford.

“As well as offering very high quality facilities for residents, these projects are also likely to lead to the creation of significant numbers of jobs for local people across the district,” Cllr Hopkins explained.

Substantial funding will be released to support education across the district including through the Building Schools for the Future programme.

And individual pots of money have been set aside to support play schemes and parenting groups, fund adaptations to older people’s homes, establish allotments, open health and wellbeing cafes,  set up bursary schemes for high achieving able-bodied and disabled athletes and to reward academic excellence, assist uniformed groups, allow service personnel free access to leisure facilities, scrap the £1 booking fee on tickets for amateur drama productions, increase access to professional financial and legal advice, pay for extra winter gritting and promote the work of credit unions.

“As Conservatives, we instinctively believe in providing the best possible value for money for Council Tax payers and the deepening economic crisis has made it more important than ever that we achieve this end,” Cllr Hopkins continued.

“But equally, we believe it vital that we do what we can in these difficult economic times to support community initiatives and to deliver on the key infrastructural projects which we know can and will have a hugely positive impact on the long-term future of Bradford district.

“The Conservative Group’s budget proposals provide a sensible, cost-effective but also exciting way forward for our district.

“We very much hope they will receive cross-party support in Council.”

Bradford Council Conservative Leader Kris Hopkins has put forward a draft 10-point plan which he believes will serve as a very useful guide for parents with children who are underachieving at Greenhead High School in Keighley.

Cllr Hopkins intends to discuss the plan with interested parents together with representatives of the school, local educationalists and other relevant parties.

He produced his proposals following a meeting earlier this week with a range of individuals and groups in the town to discuss his comments in last week’s Keighley News which criticised some parents of pupils at Greenhead High School who, he said, had failed to properly support their children to attain the benchmark five GCSE passes.

“My proposals are hardly rocket science but I believe they will serve as a useful set of pointers for parents who want to do the right thing for their children but have so far come up short of the mark,“ Cllr Hopkins commented.

“The general thrust of the plan is for parents to take a more active interest in their child’s education, for them to inject more discipline into their child’s home life and to ensure that English, if it is not the pre-dominant language at home, is spoken regularly.

“I intend to convene a wider meeting within the next two weeks involving parents, staff, representatives from the mosques and local educational professionals to begin a serious dialogue on these ideas and to chart a constructive and clear way forward.

“My comments in last week’s Keighley News have clearly started a debate in the community and that is obviously to be welcomed.  However, properly assisting those pupils at Greenhead High School who have underachieved is what matters and that is why the involvement of all interested parties and, crucially, educational professionals is so important.

“I have already had a discussion with a range of individuals including, for example, the Keighley Council of Mosques who I would like to thank for being so supportive in their approach.  But wider talks are essential as we seek to include everyone’s views in finding a set of solutions. I am not precious about what the outcome may be – my only stipulation is that it works.”

Cllr Hopkins’ 10-point plan for parents with children who are failing to achieve at Greenhead High School is as follows:

1.    Take a personal interest in your child’s progress at school – monitor their homework and try where possible to read stories and books to younger children

2.    Ensure your child is a regular attendee at school

3.    Get your child to school on time

4.    Provide dedicated space at home for your child to study

5.    Ensure English is spoken regularly at home, particularly by older children

6.    Get more involved in the day-to-day running of the school – become a volunteer or even a governor

7.    Work with the school, not against it – if you have concerns, make an appointment with the school and talk about them directly with a member of staff

8.    If you have a daughter at the school, make sure you achieve the proper balance with regard to their domestic responsibilities

9.    Do not take your children on extended holidays in school terms

10.    Take advantage of extended services offered by the school such as parenting groups

The strength of the local financial services sector and the relatively low costs of doing business in Bradford provide a strong case for Northern Rock to relocate its headquarters to the district, according to Bradford Council’s Executive Member for the Economy

Cllr Adrian Naylor also said he believed it was vital that Bradford & Bingley was allowed to remain at its current Crossflatts base.

Speaking at this afternoon’s full meeting of the Council in Bradford City Hall, he commented:

“The Financial Services sector in Leeds City Region employs 240,000 and has much to lose.  Remember also it is not just the direct jobs lost but also the effect these job losses have on other sectors as spending power decreases.

“This means that, for Bradford district, it is imperative that the Bradford & Bingley is allowed to continue in its current location.

“The incentives are obvious in that it is part of the financial services hub in this region which has significant critical mass in terms of both a highly skilled work force and support industries, unlike say the North East.

“In addition the relatively low cost base for operating in the Bradford district provides an opportunity to attract further players in this sector once the recover starts or even to relocate the Northern Rock.”

Bradford City ward councillor Munir Ahmed has resigned from the Labour Party to join the Conservatives.

He will now take the Conservative Whip and sit as a member of the Conservative Group in City Hall.

Cllr Ahmed said:

“Over the past few months, I have become increasingly disillusioned with the policy direction of the Labour Party, both locally and nationally.

“I first took the decision to enter politics because I wanted to help deliver better services for the area in which I live and a better vision for our country.

“But the Bradford Council Labour Group has no appetite to deliver for local people and the Labour Government has simply run out of ideas

“I therefore concluded it was best for me and in the interests of my constituents that I resign my membership of the Labour Party.

“However, I am now very proud to be a member of the Conservative Party and look forward to supporting Council Leader Kris Hopkins and my Conservative Group colleagues with their ambitious plans for Bradford district.”

Bradford Council Conservative Group Leader Cllr Kris Hopkins added:

“I am delighted to welcome Munir to the Conservative benches and believe he will quickly become a very valued member of our team on Bradford Council.

“His decision to join the Conservatives is clearly a sign that our efforts to make life better for the residents of Bradford district are winning support across former political divides, and this can only be good for local people.”

Commenting on the news, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Chris Grayling said:

“It’s clear that more and more people now see David Cameron and the Conservative Party as being the only real option when it comes to leading Britain through the challenges we face.

“We’re now finding more and more Labour and Liberal Democrat politicians deciding that they feel we are offering the right way forward, and seeking to join us.

“We welcome people making that change, and look forward to their help in building a better alternative for Britain.”

Cllr Munir was first elected to Bradford Council in 2003 and currently sits as a member of the Regeneration and Economic Improvement Committee, the Foster and Adoption Panel and the Employees Appeals Panel.

He has previously served on the Bradford West Area Committee, the Corporate Parenting Panel and the Social Care Improvement Committee.

The following statement was issued earlier today by Cllr Kris Hopkins, Leader of the Bradford Council Conservative Group, in response to the announcement of the Local Government Financial Settlement:

“Given that the average funding increase announced for English local authorities is 4.2%, I am obviously very disappointed that, at 3.6%, the amount awarded to Bradford Council is significantly lower than this for 2009-10 and is then due to fall even further in 2010-11.

”As ever, this Labour Government continues to pass extra responsibilities and costs to local authorities and Council Tax payers with no additional funding to pay for them.

“This will inevitably place greater pressures on us than ever before when we sit down to discuss the budget for the next financial year.

“With regard to finding efficiencies, Conservative-led Bradford Council agreed the lowest Council Tax increase in Yorkshire and Humber for the current financial year by doing just this, and we remain strongly committed to eliminating waste wherever it exists.”

The Government’s decision to increase employers’ National Insurance contributions by 0.5% from April 2011 will cost Bradford Council at least £1.5 million a year, its Conservative Leader has revealed.

Cllr Kris Hopkins added that the increase in petrol duty – also announced by the Chancellor in yesterday’s Pre-Budget Report – will lead to much higher fuel bills for the local authority.

“In deciding to increase National Insurance contributions for both employees and employers, Alistair Darling has effectively driven a coach and horses through the budgets of every business and public authority in the country, and raided the personal finances of every worker,” he said.

“£1.5 million is the equivalent of an extra 1% on Council Tax in Bradford district and is therefore a very significant amount of money for us.
“This leaves us with two choices: do we pass on the bill to local residents or do we make cuts to front line services?  It has to be one or the other.

“And every private and public sector body with paid employees will have to make cut backs of their own.

“Staff, who face their own 0.5% rise in National Insurance contributions, will also be hit very hard in the pocket.  For example, Bradford Council employees will collectively have to fork out an additional £1.5 million every year.

“The decision to increase petrol duty will also significantly add to our fuel bills which, again, will have to be paid for out of our main budget.  And local people who have no option but to drive to work will have to pay more.

“The Government’s Pre-Budget Report was supposed to instil greater confidence in all of us but, instead, it has caused great damage to people’s morale and raided the coffers of employers everywhere you look.

“I have no doubt that this is a moment the Labour Government will come to regret.”

The Government may have to intervene to force energy companies to lower their prices, Bradford Council Conservative Leader Kris Hopkins has said.

“One in five families and one in three pensioner households in this country is living in fuel poverty, and this is simply wrong in today’s world,” said Cllr Hopkins.

“The energy regulator Ofgem has asked the major energy providers to come up with proposals by the beginning of next month to bring prices down.  But words are not enough.  As winter begins to draw in, local residents in Bradford district want warms homes and lower fuel bills – not words.”

Cllr Hopkins pointed out that average fuel bills had gone up by £400 since the beginning of the year and, despite significant falls in wholesale energy prices over recent weeks, the differences had not yet been passed on to customers.

“Christmas is expensive enough for the normal family but, in the current economic climate, things could be more difficult this year than for decades.  Very high energy costs are clearly making matters significantly worse and could force many families to go deeper into debt.

“And for pensioners, unless fuel prices come down rapidly, many will have to choose between eating and keeping warm.

“This Labour Government is very fond of meddling in people’s lives, normally not for the better.

“But, if the energy companies fail to act to lower their prices, Ministers must take some form of forcible action to compel them to do so.”

The ADL SmartAssist website was set up last year by Bradford Council’s Adult Service in partnership with ADL Smartcare. It enables people to find out whether their lives would be improved by specialist equipment without them having to leave the house or make an appointment with an occupational therapist.

Coun Dale Smith, Executive Member for Adult Services, said: “This is a fantastic achievement and you can see for yourself what a useful tool this website is. People can get the advice and support they need without having to wait for an appointment, but still with the reassurance that the service comes from an expert.”

The website is - www.self-assess.co.uk/bradford - and will ask users a number of questions to assess their needs. It can be accessed on home computers at any time of the day, public libraries, Disabilities Equipment Bradford (Shipley), One-Stop-Shops and any other public access computer.

It is aimed at people who may be experiencing problems in their day-to-day lives through illness, disability or general ageing but would like to continue to life independently without social care support.

The Government’s decision to drastically cut the numbers of students eligible to receive a maintenance grant has been strongly condemned by the Bradford Council Conservative Leader.

Cllr Kris Hopkins said confirmation that the family income upper limit would be reduced from £60,000 to £50,020 in 2009 would hit a significant proportion of young people across Bradford district who wanted to gain university qualifications.

“As a result of this decision, large numbers of students from middle income families who wanted to enter higher education may not now get that chance,” he commented.

“Attending university is a goal that everyone has the right to aspire to.  Indeed, it is a goal they should be encouraged to achieve.

“It is estimated that this change of Government policy will mean that 40,000 prospective students might not be able to attend university because they and their families are unable to afford the costs.

“Rather than protecting the interests of ‘the many not the few’ as they promised to do when taking office, Labour Ministers have again failed to protect the interests of the less well off members of our community.”