The Labour chumps at Inside Out are very keen to portray the Swansea Administration as keen to cut services, even though in many instances they failed to oppose the supposed cuts and the impact on the ground is minimal. For our part we have been keen to eschew Labour's example and to live within our means. That is why we have kept our average Council Tax increase to 4.25%, compared to 8.66% under Labour.Just how difficult that has been in the face of many cost pressures and inadequate settlements from the Labour Assembly Government has not been appreciated by many. For Labour, they have always preferred to ignore these factors and just oppose for the sake of it.
Now we see that it is not just Swansea that is having problems. Neighbouring Labour-controlled Neath Port Council are having to resort to more drastic measures than anything we would contemplate to keep their budget under control. According to the Neath Guardian Labour Council Leader, Derek Vaughan, is contemplating laying off staff to make ends meet. His administration has written to almost 3,000 of their most senior staff, asking them if they would be willing to take voluntary redundancy or early retirement. So far 400 have volunteered. Quite what impact this will have on services has yet to be seen but we are willing to bet that it will not be positive.
Although Neath Port Talbot aim to keep their Council Tax rise to a minimum they will still have the highest Council tax bills in Wales. So their residents will be paying more than anybody else for poorer services. That is the reality of living in a Labour-run Council area. We bet this will not feature on the Labour spin site anytime soon.
