"Charges for district council services in Huntingdonshire, such as for planning applications and use of leisure centres, are likely to rise to help meet a funding shortfall, business leaders were told last week."
This is what I have warning about. But increasing the charges of the Leisure Centres will not necessarily cut costs as it may just put people off going. The problem is fundamental as the District cannot afford the Leisure Centres. So what is the strategy for these leisure centres? Are the Conservatives looking at pushing these onto the Town Councils? Or are they going down the Trust route?
But, with a net reduction of £6million in HDC’s spending over the next five years following the Government’s need to claw back the £200billion cash injected into the economy through ‘quantitative easing’, cuts are inevitable and increases in charges are likely, Cllr Rogers said.
So there we have it. The Conservatives can tell the business community about the £6 million deficit. But the council taxpayers and residents are left in the dark over the depth of the cuts needed! The reason for the cuts has nothing to do with the need to claw back £200 billion. The reasons behind the need for cuts has everything to do with past decisions of Conservative run HDC.
HDC’s leader, Councillor Ian Bates, said...:
“I would have liked to be able to ask people, what they thought about a £6-a-year increase to invest specifically in this or that. But we can’t do it for risk of being capped.”
Instead of asking people about the £6 increase why can't HDC's leader Councillor Ian Bates ASK the people about the £6 million of cuts in the budget? That is what I feel all Councils should be doing and I will carry on pointing this out.
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