South Wales Evening Post - 22 September 2005
Another letter from Martyn Williams which shows that distance from the events can lead to a great deal of misunderstanding (Have Your Say, September 15). Councillor Holley, the Liberal Democrat Leader of our local council here in Swansea, did not in any way dismiss the concerns of Mr Carter, the deputy chief executive, about the authority's current budget position.
As part of his regular review of the council's financial position, Mr Carter alerted senior councillors and officers to certain issues that could become problems if no action was to be taken to deal with them.
These issues included the increased costs in dealing with Swansea's domestic waste and the unexpectedly high bill for tackling the deteriorating condition of many local schools - both long-term problems which had been totally neglected by the former Labour-run council.
Indeed, a senior officer of the council reported that it was the long-term under-investment in the council's building stock which has led to an increase in maintenance costs.
At the same time as these costs are increasing, the Labour Government are considering a plan to cut funding to Swansea's Social Services for the care of some of our most vulnerable citizens by around one-fifth. The council plans to lobby our local Assembly members and MPs to try to stop this outrageous U-turn, and we will do all we can to continue funding projects to support people despite these huge cuts.
In order to face up to these issues, the council's cabinet has approved Mr Carter's suggestion that the authority's contingency fund, the money set aside at the beginning of this financial year to deal with unforeseen but unavoidable financial commitments, should be used to help plug the gap between the money raised by the council and the money we need to spend to meet our obligations.
So, far from ignoring our senior officers, we are dealing with issues before they become problems - a lesson Labour could have learned.
Councillor R H Kinzett, Chairman, Finance Cabinet Advisory Committee, County Hall, Swansea
