Too many unanswered questions on Best Value report say Lib Dems

THE Liberal Democrat opposition on Warrington Borough Council say there are many questions still to be answered following the publication of the Best Value Inspection report.

The report was debated at the last Full Council meeting and the Lib dem opposition believe the inspection report was “biaised politcally” and while there are clearly many issues they do not accept “gross financial mismanagement” has taken place.

Lib Dem Group Leader Cllr Mark Browne said, “I could stand here and make political capital of the criticisms contained in this report and the Care Quality Commission report on safeguarding, but what would that achieve? We believe in putting the residents of Warrington first. While we disagree with the administration on many issues, we are committed to moving the situation forward positively whilst holding Labour to account. We welcome the reaffirmation of transparency, the convening of an urgent joint meeting of the Scrutiny, Health Scrutiny and the Protecting the Vulnerable Policy Committees, confirmation of cross-party co-operation and cultural change.”

Deputy Group Leader Cllr Helen Speed added, “With nearly half of the councillors being newly elected and staff turnover through voluntary redundancy, I am concerned that we may be at risk of losing not only organisational memory but also continuity in how we understand, assess, and mitigate risk. Comprehensive training programmes are needed to ensure we have the necessary skills and knowledge to scrutinise complex financial and risk management issues.”

Finance Spokesperson and former Council Leader, Cllr Ian Marks commented, “Before the last election when the Tories were in opposition, there was a toxic atmosphere on the Council which was completely unproductive. There was an adversarial attitude with personal attacks on officers. I am very annoyed about the biased political interviewing by the Inspectors. Four former Tory Councillors and one former Tory MP were interviewed but not many relevant Labour and Lib Dem politicians.
“We were all invited to submit comments on the Best Value report. Will the report be modified because of these comments? How many Ministerial Envoys will be sent to Warrington? How much time and influence will they have? Given that all councils are desperately short of money, what guarantees can be given that everything will be ‘fine’ once the various interventions have been made?
“I am not impressed by this Report and do not accept gross financial mismanagement has taken place. If we had been running the Council we would not have invested in the energy company or the bank but we are sympathetic to most of the actions taken to generate £23m to protect vital services.”