Greenwich Councillors’ War of Words Over Council Leader’s Business Expo Trip to Taiwan During 4.99% Council Tax Rise
A war of words has erupted between Greenwich councillors over the council’s budget plans with the council leader at a technology expo in Taiwan while the budget meeting was held.
Greenwich Conservatives opposed the Labour council’s 1.99 per cent council tax rise, the maximum rise allowed before putting a larger rise to a referendum.
This is on top of the Government asking local authorities to raise council tax by 3 per cent to cover increasing demand on adult social care.
Denise Hyland, leader of Greenwich Council, said: “While our hands are tied in terms of raising council tax to help meet the national adult social care funding crisis, I am sure residents agree that it is important to make sure that we do all we can to ensure vulnerable residents receive the help and support they need.”
However the council opposition accused Cllr Hyland of being “disrespectful” towards the people of the borough for attending a technology expo in Taiwan instead of the budget meeting.
Matt Hartley, leader of Greenwich Conservatives, said: “I find it astonishing that at time when this Labour council is bringing forward a tax-rising budget centred on adult social care, both the Leader of the council and the cabinet member responsible for adult social care are not even attending the meeting.
“This is deeply disrespectful to the residents into whose pockets their Labour budget seeks to dig even deeper.
“As ever, Labour councillors’ first and last instinct is to raise Council Tax by as much as they can possibly get away with, without holding a referendum, and without even formally considering alternatives.”
Cllr Hyland defended her actions by saying that she was invited by the Taiwanese government thanks to Greenwich’s “growing international reputation as a bug of smart city activity”.
She said: “The summit was of central significance to the strategic goal of establishing Greenwich as a global centre of excellence for Smart Cities, with all the economic benefits which this may attract.
“Greenwich has a strong track record of attracting inward investment through our regeneration programme.
“In the last year this has generated an additional £6 million of local growth in the borough.
“Our Smart Cities programme is the next phase of that work and we are aiming, over time, to attract further investment and to future-proof our services.”
“Regarding the council meeting on the budget, as all parties are aware, the discussions concerning the budget have been conducted across many months.
“Over this period, all points have been explored extensively to address both the pressures on our finances and the need to provide the best possible services to those most in need across the borough.”
The war of words over the council’s budget continues, with Greenwich Labour accusing the Conservatives of refusing to engage and respond to the issues around adult social care in their own budget proposals.
Meanwhile the Greenwich Conservatives believe the council tax rise could be removed by cutting other areas, such as funds spent on PR or reputation management services and professional photography.
