Labour councillor condemns Craig Whittaker for failing Calderdale
Wednesday, 21 February 2018
Labour councillor Josh Fenton-Glynn has accused Calder Valley MP Craig Whittaker of letting Calderdale down by his support of the Government's spending plans for local government.
Last week, Mr Whittaker voiced his support for what he claimed was a 'funding increase' for Calderdale Council. But in fact, the Government's own figures show that central support for the Council has been cut – not increased.
"Either Craig Whittaker doesn't understand his own Government's figures, or he is deliberately misleading local residents", says Fenton-Glynn
"The official figures from the Government department show government funding is being cut by another £3.9m next year. And they confirm that since 2015, annual government support for Calderdale has been cut by more than £20m.
"Mr Whittaker says the council can spend £2.4m more – but that's only true if council tax goes up by 6%. What he's actually exposing is the way Mrs May's Government is loading the cost of local services onto the council tax payer whilst cutting central government funding."
Instead of welcoming this announcement, if Mr Whittaker cares for Calderdale, he should be backing Labour's call for Mrs May to give Calderdale back the millions of pounds of funding that have been cut from our budget every year.
"Craig Whittaker is happy to invite Theresa May to Calder Valley but unwilling to speak up to her for our schools, our services and our health service"
See Craig Whittaker's blog on Calderdale funding