CONSERVATIVE LEADER, JOHN SMEATON'S SPEECH TO COUNCIL (20/02/02)

I, like the rest of Somerset, deplore the proposed 12.9% increase in Somerset’s Council Tax. No-one could possibly welcome an increase on such a scale. I believe it is an entirely unacceptable position for a Council to be left in, where the options are to cut vital services or increase taxes at such a rate, and I put the blame, on this occasion, squarely on the duplicitous actions of the Labour government. This outrageous increase is another Labour Government stealth tax by yet another method.

I say “on this occasion” because I recall being here and listening to the sonorous tones of Tony Merrick flaying the then Lib-Dem Committee Chairmen for their lack of financial discipline. In the following quadrennium I heard Des Roach and Allen Cotton frequently chastising those on the Liberal Democrat benches for failing to get their priorities right. So, maybe we wouldn’t be where we are today if the previous two administrations had listened to us with the same consideration as this current one does, but unfortunately we are.

Many businesses providing products or services have not had above inflation price increases over the past 8 years. Yet here at County Hall the Liberal-Democrats have increased Council Tax by nearly 60% over the same period. What better excuse does this Labour Government need in its plan to abolish County Councils and with them, local democracy, than to highlight our apparent financial incompetence?

In our Conservative Group manifesto for last year’s elections we stated that it would be our intention to direct more resources into Social Services, we would increase substantially the road maintenance budget, and we would set clear priorities for expenditure and streamline County Hall.

Despite not winning control of the Council, we have achieved the first two of those pledges for the benefit of the people of Somerset. The third must follow, if we are, as a Council, to keep the trust of the Somerset tax-payer and prove competent stewardship of his taxes.

We have spent three long, painful years examining and re-organising our political structures, it is now time to address the operational and service delivery structures and their costs. Our Chief Executive has been an enthusiastic supporter of change at the political level and I expect similar enthusiasm from him at the next stage.

It is clear that we must have nothing short of a Fundamental Council Review as opposed to the expensive and wasteful Best Value process. This review will need to clarify which are statutory and which are non-statutory services. It will need to question the relevance and costs of those additional services. It will examine how departments operate and are run. It will look at budget allocations. It will look at staffing levels. And it will look at duplicated effort both within and outside the County Council, where other agencies operate.

Only in this way will we be able to reassure the people of Somerset of our financial competency with their Council Tax.