Keighley and Ilkley MP Robbie Moore and his main challenger to be the area's next representative at Westminster have responded to the news that Bradford Council cuts could severely impact services in our area.
Tap here to read about the latest proposals from Bradford Council to save £40m over the next three years - including the closure of the Golden Butts and Sudgen End Household Waste & Reycling Centres in our area; plus increases to car park and parking permit charges and rises in council tax.
Robbie Moore MP said: "Labour want you to pay for their complete incompetence and not only that - but for you to suffer poorer local services as a result as well.
"It is infuriating but unfortunately not surprising that under Labour’s watch - Susan Hinchcliffe and her team have bled Bradford Council dry by wasting money on glorified white elephant projects, non-statutory schemes and their gross mismanagement of children’s services.
"Cllr Hinchcliffe’s attempt to blame everyone but herself for leading the council to bankruptcy isn’t fooling anyone.
"It wasn’t the government who decided to spend £15m on the Kirkgate Centre whilst at the same time failing catastrophically to protect our children; it wasn’t the government who decided to get involved in the £35 million One City Park white elephant project whilst attempting to slash Keighley and Ilkley’s statutory services; and it wasn’t the government who decided to splash nearly £200,000 on staff gift cards as the District sunk into financial ruin.
"If Bradford Council wanted to start saving some money - perhaps they could start by scrapping ill-thought through schemes that the vast majority of people do not want - like their ridiculous town-wide 20 mph scheme in Ilkley in which they plan to plaster the town with speed humps, costing the taxpayer hundreds of thousands.
"But no, instead they plan to close Ilkley’s Tip and the Tip at Sugden End in the Worth Valley which will led to an increase in fly tipping. They plan to increase parking charges which will hamper local businesses, implement parking charges at Ilkley’s Lido and look to close local sporting and leisure facilities, all negatively impacting our children’s health and wellbeing.
"But it won’t stop there - they will then look to close our libraries and other key services - all as a result of their financial mismanagement.
"I won’t accept these absurd proposals as why should we - and I will campaign like there is no tomorrow to stop them.
"It simply is not fair that residents across Keighley, Ilkley, Silsden, the Worth Valley and our wider area who contribute the most already to Bradford Council through Council Tax - but get the least back - are now going to be expected to pick up the tap for Labour’s steer incompetence by having to pay up to a 5 percent increase in Council Tax.
"Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Keighley and Ilkley wants to tie us even closer to Bradford Council and continues to endorse Susan Hinchcliffe - but I take a robust view - and will stand up for our area.
"The case to take Keighley and Ilkley out of Bradford Council control and form our own unitary authority which puts local priorities first, has never been stronger. And as Keighley and Ilkley's MP, that is exactly what I will continue to fight for."
John Grogan - who was MP for Keighley and Ilkley 2017-2019 and will fight this year's general election in the constituency for Labour - said: "The scale of the cuts facing Bradford Council is shocking but not surprising given the Government’s indifference to local councils particularly in the North of England.
"In Yorkshire alone, the Tories have cut nearly £1 billion in local government funding since 2015 whilst treating the likes of Surrey much more favourably. It is time Bradford’s two Conservative MPs put aside party politics and demand that the Chancellor fund councils like Bradford fairly. Ultimately the fault lies in Downing Street - not City Hall - as councils, both Tory and Labour, around the country are facing similar pressures on their budgets.
"There is another way to run our country. Councils did not routinely go bust under the last Labour government and doctors did not go on prolonged strikes.
"2024 will almost certainly be a general election year, and the future of all our libraries, leisure centres, swimming pools, and youth clubs - whether in Keighley and Ilkley, in Bradford, in Yorkshire, or in our proud country as a whole - will be on the ballot paper."
Opposition parties on Bradford Council have also had their say on the announcement.
Councillor Rebecca Poulsen (Cons, Worth Valley), leader of the Conservative Party in Bradford, said: “They suddenly came out with these cuts three days before Christmas.
“They should have been doing these over the last three years.
“This hasn’t been thought through.”
Councillor Matt Edwards, head of the Greens in Bradford, said: “The cuts being proposed are brutal.
“There is no getting away from the fact Bradford residents are going to be paying more for less services. Services like tips, libraries and leisure centres are all on the chopping block.
“Bradford is absolutely not alone in this position. We have already seen big metropolitan councils like Nottingham and Birmingham issue Section 114 notices – effectively declaring bankruptcy.
“Bradford taxpayers are paying the price for a Conservative government that is chronically underfunding our Councils and the mismanagement of Children’s Services under this Labour administration.
“Our district deserves better.”
Councillor Brendan Stubbs, Leader of the Lib Dems, said: “This is a car crash we have all seen coming for over a year.
“The Labour Leadership have failed to listen to opposition voices, ploughing on with pet projects as cost spiral and failing to sort out broken services.
“Labour will shout this is all the Government’s fault, but the truth is it is a combination of poor leadership in City Hall combined with Conservative Government failures that have led us to this day. Everyone in the district knows it.”
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