Letter to Cllr J Mortimer about Council Tax, March 2004

Lawrie Quinn, MP for Scarborough & Whitby, today [5 March 2004] wrote to his Borough Councillor, Jane Mortimer, regarding the Scarborough Borough Council Annual Budget Meeting due to take place on Monday 8 March. Lawrie sent copies of this letter [see below] to the Chief Executive of Scarborough Borough Council, John Trebble, and all SBC Councillors.

The full text of Lawrie's letter reads as follows:

Lawrie Quinn MP 220 Portcullis House London SW1A 0AA Tel: 020 7219 5937 Fax: 020 7219 2477 www.lawrie-quinn.org.uk 05 March 2004 Dear Jane Scarborough Borough Council Annual Budget Meeting - Monday 8th March I am taking the unusual step of writing to you as my local Scarborough Council representative to outline my personal concerns about the Council's Budget to be proposed to the Council's Annual Budget Meeting on Monday 8th March and to suggest how those proposals might be improved. I'd also like to share with you details of the most recent correspondence from the Local Government Minister following my representations to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister over the last few months after discussions with the Leaders of the Political Groups at the Town Hall in Scarborough. I feel I also have a wider duty to copy this letter to your fellow Council members so they might consider the current position of one of the Members of Parliament for our local community. Along with many local residents I participated in the meeting organised at Scarborough Library on Friday 27th February to consider the views of the retired members of our community concerning the proposed budget round. I was pleased that the Leader of the Council was able to listen to some of these concerns as a member of the audience so she might share a sense of what was said at the Council's Annual Budget Meeting. Unfortunately, she was not able to take her place on the platform to answer the many questions from the community due to recovery from a minor operation but her judgement of what was said should inform your debate and I hope may have allowed a reassessment of the Executive's proposed Budget for next year. My opinions are also formulated from thousands of representations from across Scarborough & Whitby constituency who have urged my intervention, with many calling on me to represent their concerns to Ministers so the Government might consider a "capping order" on the level of the Council's Precept. I have made these representations demanded by local people and understand the Office of Deputy Prime Minister keeps the situation under review. I have also become increasingly concerned that the size of cuts in Council services to be proposed to Council on Monday will generate a sizeable and disproportionate effect on the most vulnerable members of our community. I understand that you may also share my concerns that the proposed closure of children's play centres across the Borough will seriously damage the good work of the Council to build the children's respect for their local communities and environments. This service cut seems to me to be disjointed from the positive and forward looking Leisure strategy planned for our local residents due for publication by the Council in July 2004. This proposal alone sets its face against the recent attempts by the Town Hall to involve local people in consultations and the design of future services, This proposal also reflects the wider community concern that local people are been asked to pay more for lesser services. In the last few weeks I have been able to consult many local councillors and yesterday I was pleased to attend a meeting organised by Cllr Popple for Independent Councillors at the Town Hall to listen to the many concerns raised about the proposed Budget and the financial relationship with central government. I have personally been working in Parliament and in my Party at national level to seek reform of the current arrangements to ensure we have a more sustainable mechanism which reflects the individual residents ability to contribute to their local council services. I hope you support the Balance of Funding Review currently underway in Westminster and might ask the Council to reflect on their position calling for a "tourist tax" which I think will have unplanned consequences for local jobs at the Yorkshire Coast. I believe a central aspect of the consideration of the Budget before you will be the position regarding the Council's reserves and the judgement of Councillors whether, like last year's budget, these be utilised to meet the concerns of local people. I therefore hope that you will give close consideration to the amendment proposed by the Cllr Broadbent which will seek to utilise some of the Council's reserves to mitigate the most damaging aspects of the service cuts proposed for the local community and will seek to reduce the proposed SBC Precept to a more acceptable level for many older residents on fixed incomes. I fail to see the financial logic of utilising Council reserves to make staff redundant when a better use of the community's resources held in reserve is surely to support valued Council services such as the Children's Playcentres. Also the ongoing work by the Council on leisure services surely should be properly considered before taking such a drastic and I believe irreversible decision. I know that you personally have a great commitment to our local community and your work with the voluntary sector demands much respect, I hope from this perspective you may also consider the concern highlighted in the Minister's letter regarding the very low take up of council tax benefit locally and share my view that is in the community and Council's own interest to promote these entitlements at the same time the Council Tax demands are delivered across the Borough. Finally, and I hope you will consider this point from a non party political viewpoint, I hope you share my commitment to local services delivered by local government as demanded by local people. I believe in the longer term the Balance of Funding Review will generate a much needed and sustainable reform but for the short term the ability to influence next year's local service delivery is in the hands of yourself and your colleagues. I recognise also you may dismiss this letter as that of "one constituent's viewpoint". However, in view of the very tight timescale please do not hesitate to email me over the weekend if you'd like me to address any specific issues not covered in this letter. So please give close consideration to the amendment in front of the Annual Budget Meeting on Monday which seeks to address the real concerns of my constituents and your constituent. I hope you will support local services for local people by utilising the Council's reserves as proposed by Cllr Broadbent on Monday. Once again thank you for the work you do for our local community. Yours sincerely Lawrie Quinn MP Scarborough & Whitby