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Council rejects Tory elected mayor's budget

Martin HeathBedfordshire political reporter
News imageAmy Holmes/BBC Tom Wootton is standing in a wood-panelled room that appears to be an office or meeting space. He is dressed in a dark blue suit jacket over a black sweater, with a white collared shirt and patterned tie. Behind him are wall-mounted evacuation diagrams and a row of black cushioned chairs with wooden frames.Amy Holmes/BBC
Bedford's Conservative mayor Tom Wootton hoped his budget would pass

A Conservative elected mayor said his council had been left "in an extremely precarious position" after councillors rejected his budget.

Tom Wootton had warned that the government could end up running Bedford Borough Council if his financial plan failed.

The motion to accept the budget lost by 16 votes to 18 on Wednesday.

The leader of the Liberal Democrat group, Henry Vann, said the authority was "effectively bust" and "residents deserve better". Councillors will look to vote again on the budget later this month.

The council is legally obliged to agree a balanced budget before 11 March.

The proposals put forward by the mayor and his cabinet to address a multimillion-pound shortfall included suspending free parking and cutting some grants.

There could also be some job losses.

News imageMartin Heath/BBC Henry Vann with short dark hair and glasses, wearing a white shirt with blue squares and a blue jacket. He is standing in a council building foyer with framed pictures on the white wall behind.Martin Heath/BBC
Liberal Democrat group leader, Henry Vann, said the council was effectively in special measures and bankrupt

During Wednesday's debate, Vann, the leader of the Lib Dem opposition, was criticised for saying on BBC Three Counties Radio that the authority was in special measures and bankrupt.

The council's senior financial officer said although the council had introduced measures to deal with the financial situation, it had done so voluntarily.

She also said that unless the government agreed to a request for Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) of about £55m, she would have to issue a notice declaring that the council could not pay its bills.

'Remortgaging for a cruise'

Doug McMurdo, an independent councillor, told the meeting that by relying on EFS support, which would have to be paid back, the mayor was "remortgaging to pay for a Caribbean cruise".

The Liberal Democrat and Green groups said they would vote against the budget, while the Labour group abstained.

News imageMartin Heath/BBC Graeme Coombes with short white hair and black framed glasses, wearing a grey pin-striped jacket, pink shirt and blue tie. He is standing in a council foyer with a white wall behind.Martin Heath/BBC
Graeme Coombes, the Conservative group leader, said the party would keep going to get a budget through

The mayor said failure to set a budget "places the council in an extremely precarious position and increases the likelihood of government intervention".

Graeme Coombes, the leader of the Conservative group which runs the authority as a minority administration, said afterwards: "It's really important that a budget is passed for the sake of delivering services to the people of Bedford, so I'm disappointed.

"But we'll bring a budget back and we will get a budget through."

There will be a vote on a revised budget on 25 February.

Vann added that he hoped there would now be "meaningful cross-party discussions".

Ben Foley, the convenor of the Green group, said the budget had "all sorts of cuts that we're not happy with and other things that we think should be cut that they're not touching".

News imageMartin Heath/BBC Ben Foley in his wheelchair wearing a grey trilby and green sweater. He is sitting in a council foyer with a grey carpet and white walls.Martin Heath/BBC
The Green Party convenor, Ben Foley, said there were cuts his group was not happy with and cuts that should have been made

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