Opinion: The current state of affairs is a mess

That means being careful with how we spend money and looking for new ways to support the development of the city. We want to make sure our city's economy continues to grow without putting too much pressure on taxpayers.

Last week we had the December meeting of full council. An opportunity for all councillors to represent the interests of their ward residents, and to work together for the interests of the whole city.

A unanimous vote made our position on road user charging schemes very clear: we are against them! Peterborough City Council will not allow this additional tax to hit local residents. It was great to see all councillors agree on this position, but many residents still ask why Labour and the Liberal Democrats refused to vote for this in July when they had the chance. Others ask why Cllr Farooq recently worked with the disgraced Combined Authority Mayor to approve the Local Transport Connectivity Plan (LCTP), taking the first step towards introducing congestion charging in Cambridgeshire.

At the very same Combined Authority meeting, Cllr Farooq also agreed to a 200% increase in the mayoral precept on Council Tax. This unprecedented hike will hit every household and every Peterborough tax-payer, providing funds for the Mayor to roll-out his policies where he has previously lost government funding by not using it. Whilst Peterborough City Council is looking for ways to reduce the burden on residents and raise funds elsewhere, the mayor is returning money to government and instead taxing you for it!

It is a shame to see that elected Conservatives, who have since abandoned the party, are now also abandoning their residents by raising taxes in this way. As a group, the Conservatives on the council would like to re-iterate that we will always fight to make sure residents are not burdened with unjust additional financial pressures. Nationally we have taken steps to cut inflation and to be one of the fastest countries to grow the economy beyond pre-pandemic levels. We are also taking steps to cut national insurance and to increase the National Living Wage. Locally we will continue fighting to keep more money in your pockets where you can decide how it should be spent.

But here's the thing, we can't do all this alone. With the current numbers in each political group on the council there is not much that any one group can do alone. The current administration, consisting predominantly of former Conservatives is 20 seats away from having a majority in the council chamber and can only govern if they make concessions to the Labour and Liberal Democrat groups to secure their support. How can this arrangement be in the interests of anyone other than the so called independent councillors? And more to the point, how can anyone be independent if they were elected Conservatives and then abandoned their manifesto pledges to cosy up with Liberal Democrats and Labour, purely to elevate their own positions?

The radical change in administration was supposedly needed to get Peterborough back on the right track. Where it would be governed with transparency and accountability. Yet the biggest change the new administration have made is playing musical chairs in the Council Chamber! The only policy change has been to raise taxes and the recent successes that have been praised by all parties, were a result of months of work from the Conservative administration and diligent council officers.

One example of a project we were working hard on was the delivery of a new swimming pool facility for Peterborough. The regional pool has been in a state of disrepair for some time and was costing the taxpayer a large amount in maintenance and upkeep costs. A recent leak (pun not intended) revealed the pool would require approximately £15 million to fully repair. The Conservatives had been working with a range of stakeholders to explore options for a complete replacement of the facility that meets the needs of the community. We sincerely hope the Peterborough First group will continue this work to re-introduce a much needed regional pool facility to Peterborough.

The current state of affairs is a mess. There is an administration that represents only 18% of the council, and of those over 70% weren’t even elected as “independents”. The Conservative group will continue working hard on behalf of all residents to make sure the best interests of Peterborough are represented. Spending your money wisely, developing our great city and giving you the facilities and opportunities you want and need.