News from Ipswich Labour

Ipswich’s £3.5m housing cuts sent back to the drawing board

Ipswich Borough Council’s plans to cut £3.5m from its housing budget have been dealt a blow as an all-party committee of councillors sent them back to the drawing board.

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.”

Other news from Ipswich Labour

• Labour challenges Ipswich public toilet closures - 8 September 2010
• Ipswich's Murray Road Rec hit by Tory playground cuts - 21 August 2010
• Labour's Ipswich councillors concerned about classroom cuts - 26 June 2010