Local News

Allotment holders pay the price for new pool

Those who like allotments in our city must be a bit confused. On one hand allotment holders are being told they can no longer get any financial support from the city council because of the nasty government taking it's money away. On the other hand, news about the proposed £20 million swimming pool in Exeter has been presented as Labour investing in the city despite the recession. However the pool will not be magically produced by the Labour-dominated Exeter City Council - it needs to be paid for. Their plan is to save up for half of it and borrow the rest. The only trouble is that they are still paying for the museum and a raft of other unfunded projects. Since the Council was completely debt-free in 2008, Labour have rapidly run up a debt of £35 million - that is about £290 for every man, woman and child in Exeter. This debt has to be repaid with interest.

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Exeter Labour slashes Patrollers and Environmental Health staff

Labour-controlled Exeter City Council decided to slash Community Patrol and Environmental Health staff at an Executive meeting today. Cllr Adrian Fullam (Lib Dem) criticised the decision: "These lost services are a direct result of the £2m debt repayments the Council is now paying after years of overspending." Community Patrol is being reduced from 7 staff to 4 staff. Environmental Enforcement is being reduced from 5 staff to 3 staff. This will make it more difficult for the Council to monitor and report anti-social behaviour and will reduce the ability of the Council to report problems in the community such as noise nuisance. Response times to enquiries from the public are bound to get a lot worse.

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Exeter City Council underspends hardship fund

At an Executive meeting tonight the Council's Local Council Tax support scheme was reviewed. Following a question from Lib Dem Councillor Adrian Fullam, it was revealed that only £13250 of the Exceptional Hardship fund was spent out of a budget of £35000. The unspent money has been returned to Council coffers. Either the amount of hardship in the city is being exaggerated for political purposes or the Labour Council is failing to help those in need.

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£700 tax cut for 48,700 people in Exeter

The Budget announced that the Income Tax Personal Allowance will be raised to £10,000 in April 2014 - one year sooner than had been expected. This means 48,700 ordinary working people in Exeter will get a further Income Tax cut, bringing the total tax cut to £700 a year since Liberal Democrats joined the Coalition Government.

21 Mar 2013
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Forces familes, foster carers and families with severely disabled children protected from housing benefit changesForces familes, foster carers and families with severely disabled children protected from housing benefit changes

Following pressure from the Liberal Democrats, the Coalition Government has clarified that Armed Forces families and foster carers will be protected from changes to Housing Benefit. This follows yesterday's announcement that families with severely disabled children will also be exempt.

14 Mar 2013
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