Day: January 18, 2014

Council Leader Jason Kitcat invites Labour leader for a chat and calls on Labour to let the people, not the Tories decide about a 4.75% rise in council tax.

Labour’s rejection of a referendum to agree a 4.75 rise in the council tax and their call for a vote on no confidence in the Greens was described as ‘deeply disappointing’ by the Leader of the Council, Jason Kitcat who is calling for other parties to “trust the people of Brighton and Hove to make this decision”.

The proposal by the Brighton & Hove Green minority administration for a citywide council tax referendum was rejected by the Brighton & Hove Labour Party within fifteen minutes of the announcement. The Greens say they intend to hold the vote on the same day as the forthcoming European elections to reduce cost and they claim a majority of households in the city would pay an extra £5.30 or less a month if the proposals are passed and say an extensive discount scheme is in place to help households on low incomes.

The Greens maintain that Labour’s plan to table a motion of no confidence in the Greens and set up an all-party coalition for Brighton and Hove would guarantee bringing the Conservative back into power locally.

Council Leader Jason Kitcat said: “It’s deeply disappointing to see the Labour Party locally reject our proposals out of hand so quickly. Clearly little proper consideration or consultation can be done in fifteen minutes – but Councillor Morgan now has another six weeks to think again, discuss these issues with his colleagues and the unions, and with those vulnerable residents we are seeking to protect with this change.”

“These are responsible, carefully costed budget proposals which we have legitimately proposed as the largest party and the council administration. They deserve thoughtful consideration by opposition councillors.”

He continued: “If as their motion suggests, the Labour Party simply wants to work with the Conservatives, Councillor Morgan is of course free to form a new red-blue administration for Brighton & Hove. We on the other hand have no intention of entering into a coalition with the Conservatives under any circumstances.

“Even the Tory Minister for local government took a more considered position, saying yesterday that ‘we should trust the people’. That’s our position too, and we’ve received a lot of support for it locally from service users, trade union members and other residents.

“There’s a lot of heat in the current exchanges, but not much light. I invite Councillor Morgan to come and meet with me, to look at the specific services which this measure would protect and the way the sums work. I would also encourage Labour members who think it might be more constructive for Greens and Labour to work together on this to make representations to the leadership locally. I’m sure there will be many in the local Labour Party who would support the idea of giving local residents the choice between protecting our public services or Westminster’s austerity agenda.”

Labour Group leader calls for Greens to step aside to allow a cross-party caretaker administration to take control of the council for the remaining sixteen months of the present administration.

Councillor Warren Morgan, leader of the Labour and Co-operative Group on the Council said on hearing about the proposed rise: “It is the basic duty of a council administration to set a budget. The Greens have absolved themselves of that responsibility, and put forward a 4.75% council tax increase that they know will not be supported by opposition parties at Council or by the public in a referendum. We cannot support such a huge increase when people are finding hard to meet rising bills. Instead they have handed the responsibility of dealing with the cuts to others.They cannot now remain in office playing these political games rather than running the city effectively.. I am calling on the Greens to resign and allow a cross-party caretaker administration to run the council till the elections in 400 days.”

All three Labour Party parliamentary candidates have come out in support of the Labour leaders call. Peter Kyle – Hove & Portslade, Nancy Platts – Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven and Purna Sen – Brighton Pavilion have issued a joint statement.

The statment reads: “It shames our city that the Green Party’s answer to the cost of living crisis that so many residents talk to us about is an inflation-busting tax rise. The resulting referendum in Brighton and Hove would spend money that should be used elsewhere. If this goes ahead the Greens must set out how much it is costing tax payers.

“People in Brighton and Hove are already being hit hard by the cost of living crisis that this Tory/Lib Dem Government has failed to address. Now we have a local Green administration that doesn’t have any answers except a referendum. People on the doorstep are telling us that they have to make tough financial choices every day but the Green Party has shown it is not capable of doing the same.

“We are fully behind the Labour Group’s No Confidence motion, the Greens have shown they are struggling to cope and therefore it’s time for them to hand over responsibility so the people of Brighton and Hove can get the services and support they deserve.”

Labour’s MEP candidates in the South East, are attempting to ensure that students are aware of the Erasmus scheme, which provides funding for a year at a European University or work placement abroad.

UK students who sign up receive a non-repayable ‘Erasmus grant’ from the European Commission and can have much of their UK tuition fee waived, while not having to pay fees at the foreign university where they are based.

They may also benefit from a non-repayable widening participation grant from the European Commission.

Over recent years, twice as many students from Germany, Spain and France have signed up to the scheme than those in the UK. In particular, few students from the South East have taken up the opportunities offered by Erasmus.

MEP candidates Anneliese Dodds and John Howarth want to ensure that all students realise the funding is available. They are also seeking to publicise the benefits available for colleges and schools.

Howarth, who visited colleges in Newbury and Basingstoke to talk about the opportunities, said: “The European Union has funds to enable colleges to run projects that build international links within the EU. 

He continued: “I want colleges in South East England to take advantage of these funds, make bids and build links. As an MEP I will do whatever I can to help.”

Dodds added: “As someone who works in higher education, I know that relatively few students are aware of the Erasmus scheme and therefore are missing out on a valuable opportunity. Some may feel they can’t study abroad because they don’t speak another European language but many European universities now teach in English so this doesn’t have to be a barrier after all”.