The decision to close the toilets at both Tower Ramparts and Cattle Market bus stations was taken by an individual member of the Council executive, Councillor Inga Lockington. The closure decision calls for demolition with no new alternative. The report with the decision states that funds will come from the Transport Major Scheme – Ipswich Fit for the 21st Century, despite this being subject to Government review.

Labour councillors have protested that no consultation has taken place with disability groups, the bus operators or shops and pubs affected.

Labour Councillor Martin Cook said: “I’m pleased we have the chance to question this decision, which has been slipped out quietly in the middle of the holidays. Why have the facilities have gone to rack & ruin? Who will visit Ipswich if there are no proper facilities? Ipswich will hardly be fit for the 19th century, far less the 21st!”

The £235m Playbuilder scheme was launched two years ago by the Labour government. It was set up to develop 3,500 playgrounds designed by, and for, the communities they were to serve. Chantry Park has had a great new play area through the scheme.

Hundreds of community playground schemes in England are being axed or scaled back because of the Government cuts. Education Secretary Michael Gove has frozen grants to 132 councils for building and running up to 1,300 schemes, many designed by youngsters.

Local councillor Bill Knowles said: “It’s another blow to efforts to rejuvenate the Murray Road Rec. It’s disgraceful that children are now in the firing line and will miss out due to these Conservative cuts.”

Labour has tabled a Council Motion:

“This Council is deeply concerned about reports that funding may be withdrawn for the Building Schools for the Future programme and calls on the Government to honour the previous Labour Government’s commitment to rebuild or refurbish every secondary school in Ipswich.”

Labour Councillor Bryon Rudkin, who tabled the motion, said: “The new Coalition Government is pushing money to the most vocal with its ‘Free Schools’ but it must invest where need is greatest. Ipswich schools need to provide a first class setting for our children and any Coalition cuts will seriously impact on our children’s future.”

The committee was shocked to learn that Ipswich Borough Council’s Executive was prepared to enter into a massive contract with a firm of consultants to deliver the savings, without possessing even basic information about the project.

It emerged during a meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee that:

* Only two Executive councillors knew the full details of the contract – but neither of them was present at the meeting that made the decision.

* There was no breakdown of how the £3.5m savings were to be made,leaving Executive councillors with no idea whether that figure was realistic.

* No justification was provided for the level of the consultants’ fees.

* No review has been undertaken to see whether it would be cheaper for the council to deliver the savings programme itself.

* No review has been undertaken of a previous contract the same consultants undertook, despite concerns that the savings in this area are starting to unravel.

Councillors have been threatened with disciplinary action if they reveal: who the firm of consultants are; what cuts they are planning to make; or the substantial level of fees they stand to make from the contract.

However it has emerged that:

* As well as a brief “secret report” on the project that Executive councillors were allowed to see, there is a further “top secret report” with detailed figures which was withheld from them.

* One of the reasons for keeping the reports secret is fear of “industrial unrest” should their contents leak out.

Ipswich’s Labour Leader, David Ellesmere, who called for the contract to be investigated said:
“Councillors of all parties were shocked at the casual way the Executive agreed to such a large contract. Following the potential loss of £5m in Icelandic banks, we should rightly expect the council to be lot more careful when spending council tax-payers’ money.”

Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors took an “in principle” decision to go ahead with the massive savings programme at a behind-closed-doors meeting on Tuesday 7th October. A similar commitment was also made to pay consultants a substantial fee to deliver this programme. Before any discussion took place, councillors voted to ban members of the press and public from the meeting.

The Executive has even refused to release the report detailing what the cuts it plans to make to other councillors. Only those Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors who are on the Executive were allowed to see the report under conditions of strict security. In a bizarre twist it has also emerged that the leader of the Liberal Democrats was not even allowed to see the report.

The only Labour councillor who has since been allowed to see the report, Leader David Ellesmere, been gagged from speaking about the savings programme and threatened with disciplinary action if he discloses the report’s contents.

At a meeting on Wednesday the council even tried to remove members of the press and public from the room while a question was asked about this obsessive secrecy! The council only backed down after protests from Labour councillors.

Labour Leader, David Ellesmere, said:

“I’ve been told I am not allowed to say how the savings are going to be made, which consultants are going to be taken on, nor how much they are going to be paid. This is not the way decisions should be made. Council tenants will be extremely anxious about what these plans mean. If the Tories and Liberals don’t have anything to hide, why all the secrecy?”

Labour councillors want the investigation to focus on:

* Were the council’s investment procedures followed correctly?

* What impact this loss could have on council services?

* What steps have been taken to minimise future risks?

Labour finance spokesperson, Cllr Martin Cook said:

“This is a huge amount of money for the council to lose, equivalent to £125 per band D property. Ipswich council tax payers need to be reassured that procedures were followed correctly and that everything possible is being done to eliminate the potential for similar losses in future.”