Plymouth’s scrooge Tories refuse to pass on VAT cut to public

Conservative Councillors in Plymouth are not passing on the 2.5% VAT cut across a range of popular services the Labour Party revealed today.

Plymouth City Council has stated that car parking, library books and visits to leisure centres won’t see any of the cut, which is worth hundreds of thousands of pounds to local residents. Neither will any of the shoppers in the council’s retail outlets.

“The Tories the Scrooge of Christmas,” said Labour Group Leader Tudor Evans. “They say it’s not worth passing on the cut to services users. It’s daylight robbery. The 2.5% VAT cut on parking alone comes to £208,000 in a full year.”

Another snub for Efford residents’ views on travellers sites

Labour Councillors in Plymouth are furious after the Council avoided discussing the fate of a potential Travellers site in their area.

Councillor Peter Brookshaw failed to turn up to a meeting of the Safer Stronger Communities Scrutiny Panel today, and in so doing avoided answering any questions on the new policy he has been formulating to meet the Council’s obligations to provide more pitches for travellers and gypsies.

Cllr Andy Kerswell, who sits on the Panel and gathered a petition on the subject in May 2007 – which has still not been presented to any council committee - was very upset at Cllr Brookshaw’s no-show.

Government sets up public enquiry into Ham Drive pathway closure

Plymouth’s pathway protesters in Ham awoke today to find something exciting on their doormat – and it wasn’t a Christmas card.

Residents who led the protests against the path were informed today that a public enquiry was being set up by the Department for Transport and that it would be held in the local area.

Local Ham councillor Tudor Evans said:

“I thought the matter had been settled when the Council changed its plans. They have either forgotten to inform the DoT or they have a secret plan to re-introduce it by the back door, via the enquiry route.

“Residents now need reassurance.”

Labour demands more affordable homes for Plymouth City Centre

Labour Councillors in Plymouth are calling for more affordable family homes to be built in the city centre, rejecting Conservative proposals that there should be cuts to planned numbers.

Plymouth City Council has issued its issues and options consultation which will lead to an area action plan (AAP) for the City Centre and University. Labour councillors wanted to make sure they objected to the proposals. The submission includes a 700-name petition, collected by Labour Party members over just two Saturday morning sessions.

“It was clear from our petition that local people have affordable housing at the top of their priority list,” said Labour Leader Councillor Tudor Evans. “We met many young families who would like to live in the centre of the city but the opportunities for a young family to do so are very remote.

Scale of Plymouth bin chaos, “fiddled”, claim Labour

Plymouth City Council has been exposed as fiddling the figures as the city’s new bin collection services enters its sixth disastrous week.

Mark Coker, Labour’s Environment spokesperson on the Tory-controlled council is demanding that the Council should, “own up to the true picture of chaos in the city”.

Councillors in Plymouth were told at a full Council meeting earlier this week that around 200 complaints a day about missed bin collections had been logged since the scheme started in November. Councillor Coker has discovered however that the system for recording refuse collection complaints has been changed so that FOUR contacts from residents must be made before it its counted as a complaint.

Tories lose Plymouth £2m conference bonanza

Plymouth City Council Tories have lost a major Trade Union Conference from the city, worth over £2 million to the local economy. The GMB Trade Union, who held its annual congress in the City this year, were keen to return to the Plymouth Pavilions for their next Congress. But the Conference venue, owned by the Council, cannot cover the subsidy of association conferences as the Tory-controlled council has withdrawn the funding to cover such conferences – a sum of just £65,000.

The market for these conferences is very competitive, with councils across the country offering their venues for free. Although the cost of this is small – just £35,000 in the GMB’s case – councils recognise the value of the delegates’ spending to a variety of small businesses in their local economies, as well as the importance of extending the season for hotels.

Plymouth Tories refuse to give children spending priority

An opportunity for Plymouth City Council to make spending on Childrens Services a priority for the future was thwarted today by the ruling Conservatives.

Calling for additional funding for children to be made available from April next year, Labour Councillor Pauline Purnell asked that the Tories put children first.

“I am asking the Tory Cabinet to make a commitment to the future of our children,” explained Cllr Purnell.

Six million reasons why the Tories in Plymouth are terrible at taxation

Plymouth has been revealed as the third worst collector of Council Tax in England and Wales.

£6.26 Million remained outstanding at end of the 2007/08 financial year, a record so poor that only two councils are worse – the London Boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth.

In the South West, Bristol, a much larger city with many more Council Tax payers, had less owing than Plymouth.

This information was gathered by the Department of Communities and Local Government and is published by the GMB Trade Union in its Vision Magazine.

Plymouth Tories shelve Bretonside regeneration plan for six years

Plymouth Labour Councillors reacted angrily at the news that the Tory controlled City Council is to push back plans to regenerate Bretonside Bus Station in the heart of the City Centre until 2014 at the earliest.

The information was revealed in a bundle of papers during a meeting on car parking.

“We came across this news almost by accident”, said Councillor Tudor Evans, Labour Leader. “The contents are explosive. The Tories wanted this kept quiet. Bretonside is the least attractive of Plymouth’s assets. It needs urgent regeneration. It is difficult to think of a more urgent site in need of improvement. It is a key gateway to the city.

Bullying in Plymouth Council: watchdog invites formal complaint

Councillors investigating how much taxpayers money was spent to keep a Conservative Council Leader out of an Employment Tribunal have been invited to make a formal complaint to the Information Commissioner. The watchdog body promotes access to official information and protects personal information.

A request from Labour Councillors to the Commissioner for advice on how to raise their concerns about bullying and harassment of Council staff has now significantly raised the stakes for those involved in keeping the matter covered up.

Labour Leader, Cllr Tudor Evans, said:
“We have been very concerned over a period of time that victims of bullying and harassment are being silenced through the use of legal gagging clauses but on top of this we believe that public funds have been used to pay for private legal advice for a Conservative member…