Opposition councillors in Peterborough refuse to support budget
Only four councillors not part of the Labour administration voted in support of the budget.
The majority of opposition councillors in Peterborough have refused to support the city’s budget for the 2025/26 financial year.
The budget was only passed by a margin of three votes (21-18) with 11 abstentions. Of the 21 votes in support of the budget, only four came from councillors not representing the Labour party, which runs the council (three conservatives, one green). No Peterborough First, Liberal Democrat or independent councillors voted in favour of the budget.
The budget included a number of controversial cuts, as well as a rise in council tax in order to close a budget deficit of close to £23m but Labour has said the budget will deliver “a much fairer financial settlement for councils including Peterborough, but cannot reverse over a decade of damage in just one year.”
Below is a summary of reaction from Group Leaders who spoke against the budget. Many more speeches were made by councillors during Wednesday’s meeting, these can be viewed on the Peterborough City Council Youtube page.
Nicola Day, Green Group Leader
As a group, we still seek clarity over what will happen with our museums and libraries not finalised in the budget. We are pleased to note that residents have been listened to on these issues and our position on The Lido has been changed. We hope the reviews will prove fruitful but that remains a question mark.
We are extremely concerned about our reserves position and the precarious nature of savings in this budget, they will be difficult to meet.
Chris Harper, Peterborough First
The proposal to increase the fines for fly-tipping are most welcome, it is a scourge on our city. I wonder though how possible it is for this to be realised with cuts in staff.
I’m still really concerned about the libraries, it hasn’t been taken off the table it has just been pushed aside.
The reduction in days of opening of the Museum and Art gallery as well as Flag Fen. I know the leader has visited. He must be impressed with the passion and knowledge of the teams there. This only goes to show how important the culture and leisure offering is for the people of Peterborough. What high tech, high wage company is going to be attracted to our city if our city is allowed to become a cultural desert? If we have nothing to offer, those staff won’t come and we will only be able to attract more low-paid, low-skilled jobs to our city.
Steve Allen, Conservative Deputy Leader
I am happy with many things in the budget but the Household Recycling Centre, I like the idea of Peterborough residents only but to have one car per household doesn’t make sense. It wouldn’t cost the council anymore it would just put people off thinking it’s a good idea.
I’m concerned about the security of the libraries. The value of libraries cannot be overestimated, it is part of the social fabric of so many people’s lives. We must look again.
I am also concerned about the removal of staff from Central Park and Itter Park. Central Park is a jewel in the crown of the city, to have no staff will only see vandalism and degredation of the area.
Christian Hogg, Liberal Democrat Leader
I could not in all conscience support the budget as it stands. It carries a high level of risk around delivery of some of the proposed savings. Governance of this council is progressively being pared down leaving councillors with little opportunity to make legitimate challenges.
We simply can't cut the heart out of our communities by taking away vital facilities. We need a bold plan to revitalise and repurpose these buildings to match the needs or our city and our rural areas. If we are to hand over these assets to community groups to run, we can't simply wash our hands of them: we need to stand alongside them and help them through the pitfalls which may lie ahead.
Wayne Fitzgerald, Conservative Group Leader
Conservative Group Leader and Deputy Mayor Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald, who chaired the meeting, bucked the trend, however and supported the budget.
He said: It would be foolish for any one to think this is not collective responsibility. It is a council responsibility to set a budget, not just the Labour administration and I would have said exactly the same when I was leader of the council.
If you want to absolve yourself of any responsibility, then why do you take part in budget discussions? It would be a waste of time.
If we were running the council, we would be presenting the same budget, with minor tweaks. We are where we are, the financial reality is the financial reality. No budget is perfect. You are never going to be 100% happy with the contents of any budget but we have to make the best of how we put it all together.
It beggars belief that we get to this point and people haven’t said what they wanted to say. We’ve had time to debate this in public and in private.
How the council voted
For (21): Labour: Cllrs Zameer Ali, Noreen Bi, Daisy Blakemore-Creedon, Katy Cole, Alan Dowson, Angus Ellis, Samantha Hemraj, Numan Iqbal, Mohammed Jamil, Nicola Jenkins, Alison Jones, Dennis Jones, Asim Mahmood, Jason McNally, Shabina Qayyum, Richard Strangward, Nick Thulbourn
Conservative: Cllrs Lynne Ayres, Wayne Fitzgerald, John Howard
Green: Cllr Mohammed Rangzeb
Against (18): Conservative: Cllrs Raja Ahmed, Alex Rafiq
Peterborough First: Cllrs Roger Antunes, Ray Bisby, Neil Boyce, Gavin Elsey, Judy Fox, John Fox, Chris Harper, Peter Hiller, Brian Rush
Lib Dem: Cllrs Andrew Bond. Sandra Bond, Christian Hogg, Jade Seagar, Ann Shaheed, Asif Shaheed, Chris Wiggin
Abstain (11): Conservative: Cllrs Steve Allen, Michael Perkins, Rylan Ray, Irene Walsh, Scott Warren
Peterborough First: Cllrs Mohammed Farooq, Saqib Farooq, Mark Ormston
Green: Cllrs Nicola Day, Heather Skibsted, Imtiaz Ali
Not present (10): Cllrs Marco Cereste, Julie Stevenson, Arfan Khan, Kirsty Knight, Amjad Iqbal, Sarah Hiller, Simon Barkham, Qaiser Farid, Polly Geraghty, Mohammed Sabir