Conservative Councillors in Salford have “called-in” for more scrutiny a decision by Salford’s Labour leadership for a huge increase in spending on Salford’s glossy “LIFE in Salford” magazine.
Labour Council leader John Merry wants the magazine to go out monthly and with an increased number of pages, at a total cost to the local taxpayer of over £174000 - an increase of nearly £120000 on the current magazine budget. Cllr Merry will now have to justify that decision to the Strategy & Regeneration Scrutiny Committee within a fortnight.
Opposition Conservative Councillors branded the decision “appalling” and called for a rethink.
Councillor Iain Lindley said:
“It beggars belief that at a time when local residents are struggling with their bills and the Council budget is tight that the Labour leadership are proposing a significant increase in spending on glossy magazines.”
Councillor Karen Garrido, leader of the opposition, said:
“The Conservative alternative budget called for a reduction in marketing spend. Salford residents pay too much Council Tax already and should not be paying for glossy Council propaganda. This is a waste of taxpayers’ money and I hope that the call-in produces a rethink”
Detailed analysis has shown that bus users across Salford are likely to face service CUTS if the Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) bid is approved – despite an expensive marketing campaign claiming the bid will lead to big improvements in bus services.
Walkden South Conservative Councillor Iain Lindley compared current bus provision in his local area with published TIF proposals provided by GMPTE, and found that in many cases local residents would be left with fewer buses than at present. He found:
- Bus users in Walkden currently have access to 18 direct bus services to Manchester on weekdays, but under the TIF proposals this will be cut to only 14 buses.
- Residents wanting to visit Worsley, Eccles or Salford Royal Hospital will see their bus service slashed by a third.
- Those wishing to travel to the Trafford Centre and Swinton would see a slight improvement but commuters to Bolton, Boothstown and Leigh will see no changes to bus frequency despite the massive investment.
- Residents wishing to travel in the evening or on a Sunday fare a little better, but improvements are limited and some routes are still set for service cuts.
Councillor Lindley said:
“Residents will be horrified to learn that after all the grand promises they will end up with even fewer buses than at present. They have been deliberately misled and I am disgusted that £3 million of taxpayers’ money has been spent on material that contains such deception. The TIF claims on bus improvements do not stand up even to basic scrutiny - communities across Salford are likely to find that they will be paying for bus services they have been promised but will never receive.”
Salford Conservatives have welcomed proposals outlined at the Conservative Party Conference by Theresa Villiers to build a new high-speed rail link from London to Greater Manchester and other northern cities.
Theresa, the Shadow Transport Secretary, said that high speed rail would have many benefits for the UK:
Deputy Chairman of Salford Conservatives Councillor Iain Lindley, who was a delegate at the Conference, was delighted with the announcement. He said:
“This is a fantastic development and shows a long-term commitment to our transport infrastructure in the North-West which has been sadly lacking from the Labour Government”
Councillor Lindley wrote a daily diary from Conservative Party Conference which you can read on his blog.
Britain Needs A Clear Plan For Change
Leader comment by Cllr Karen Garrido - original published in the Salford Advertiser.
Britain is facing a difficult and uncertain time. Economic growth has ground to a halt, Brown’s bubble has burst, and millions of people are paying an unfair price for Labour’s economic incompetence. This financial crisis shows we need change, not more of the same. Instead of a divided Government led by the man who left the economy so badly prepared for this crisis we need a strong united, positive alternative to Labour.
The Conservative Conference showed that we are a strong and united Party - because we are a united team people can trust us to work together for the country in a crisis, unlike Labour who are fighting each other. At our conference we talked about the future of the country, unlike Labour who spent their conference arguing about their internal problems. We are not sitting back and waiting for Labour to fall apart, we’re coming forward with bold, radical ideas for changing Britain. There is absolutely no complacency.
Continue reading ‘Britain Needs A Clear Plan For Change’