Council faces barrage of questions

COUNCIL chiefs at Warrington face a barrage of questions from opposition Labour councillors next week.
Five late questions for members of the executive board have been tabled by opposition members – mostly dealing with the impact on Warrington of spending cuts.
Coun Linda Dirir (right) is seeking information of usage of Walton Hall and the Parr Hall.
She says that in the light of the the difficult financial times it is vital that the council support Walton Hall and the Parr Hall and asks for a breakdown of the number of in-house conferences, meetings, etc, which were held at one or other of the halls over the last four years.
The Penketh councillor also wants to know how many council events were held at other venues, what the events were, where they were held and what the hire costs were on a year-by-year basis.
Coun Hitesh Patel wants to know who set a target of slashing £387,000 from the culture, libraries and heritage budget by next April and how the figure was arrived at.
Labour leader Coun Terry O’Neill (left) says the Coalition Government is currently imposing a series of swingeing financial cuts in funding on the council and asks what principles the council leadership are applying when formulating its policies in response to these cut backs.
Coun Hans Mundry asks for an update on where the council is up to with its aim of reducing inequalities in Warrington.
And Coun Colin Froggatt seeks information on how much, in cuts to funding, the council’s children and young people’s services has lost in cash terms, both capital and revenue, due to actions taken by the Coalition Government since May.
A number of other questions by other councillors.
Coun Paul Kennedy, Conservatives, wants to know when central government terminated its funding of the Westy Nursery and how much of the council’s discretionary spend is spent with Warrington businesses.
Coun Kevin Reynolds, Liberal Democrats, asks that the council ask Halton Council if Warrington people can benefit from a reduction in toll charges on the new Mersey Gateway bridge to be built over the Mersey, as residents of Halton will.
He also wants to know if Warrington will have enough grit for all priority routes in the event of a hard winter and whether all elements subject to budget control within the council will come under the spotlight in the budget consultation.