Political View: Threat to industrial hub was hidden

If you ever wonder if politicians have emotions, I can honestly say yes, we do. I had a very difficult and emotional phone call talking to Hayley, and she rightly challenged me... how could I have supported a budget that included this horrendous cut? Hayley is right, I never would have if I’d known and here is the point: This budget is, only a few months in, full of smoke and mirrors.

I argued for the budget because of the workload the Council has looking after the most vulnerable in our city. Adult social care and children’s services use 77p in every one pound the Council spends. I argued that we had to have a balanced budget by law, nobody had an alternative budget, and that we were better in control of our own destiny. Look at Birmingham as a case in point for what can happen when the government steps in to intervene with a Council: Birmingham has had a 20% council tax increase over the last 2 years, and even then, can’t agree to collect bins as a pay dispute rumbles on and the streets fill with rats and household waste.

With Government decisions we are all feeling the strain, and nobody could withstand a 20% council tax increase. Again, it means we are better in charge of our own destiny, and my argument stands with one exception: if the Council are going to hide these terrible cuts from the budget papers, then how on earth does it expect to have another budget voted through ever again? Trust from elected Councillors, let alone the public, is eroding and it’s time for some accountability in decision making.

It is terrifying that the industrial hub is under threat, as this service is very much in the 77p in every pound area of the Council. The industrial hub is doing a remarkable job giving adults skills and confidence that they wouldn’t have with any other provision. More worrying is the blatant disconnect between decision-making and the human interface with the people these decisions affect. We learned last week that senior officers by their own admission had not visited the hub before making the recommendation to make the cut. How is this acceptable?

One thing I have always stood proud of from my time in the cabinet is that when tough decisions are being made, I got involved. The library review was taken on by myself and Councillor Allen, and we met ward Councillors, library users and staff in every library in Peterborough. I have stood outside the Eye library during the campaign to save it and spoke to campaigners, I have sat in the dementia centre fighting for the service. I have never shied away from the most important aspect of any decision making: boots on the ground and meeting the people these decisions affect. Officers, and maybe the serving cabinet, need reminding of the importance of this. Is there worse to come? What else is being hidden? If there are any more smoke and mirrors announcements, the next year and the next round of budget setting is going to become a very difficult and challenging time.

I am glad to note that the hub decision is now going to a consultation and is effectively on pause. This is thanks to the public effort and push to save it.

I’d like to thank Paul Bristow for his support too, for taking time out of his very hectic campaign schedule to meet users of the industrial hub. Whilst some politicians talk about saving it, remember the politicians who put boots on the ground. As I’ve said before, Paul is a passionate campaigner for Peterborough and this is why, by political choice or not, Paul Bristow should be your pick on the ballot paper for the combined authority mayorship. In the world we are in right now and with the decisions being made all around us, let’s make sure Peterborough counts and matters, and the users of the industrial hub matter.