Labour and Conservative councillors attack Banbury MP over lack of government support for Cherwell

In an article on his party's constituency web page, Cherwell's Labour leader Cllr Sean Woodcock described scenes at last Thursday's extraordinary meeting of the council's executive as 'astonishing'. The meeting was called to discuss where cuts should land and a raid on the council's reserves to make good a £3.1m shortfall.

At the meeting, Cllr Ian Corkin, a Conservative councillor on the district and county council laid bare his intense frustration at how the authorities are being treated like second class citizens.

"I find it infuriating that a stock response tells us what's been done, as if we weren't aware. We've spent months crawling over the fingers, closing the gap inch by inch by inch. We are aware. But there is an existential threat to this authority and to others and pointing that what's been done will not close that gap.

"We need clarity and we need commitment and we need it fast. Because if central government wants local government to step up in the way it has done over the last few months they'd better start treating us better than the second class citizens to be talked to in single syllable words."

Mr Woodcock said: "Cherwell is facing a budget shortfall of £3.1 million due to the national Conservative government reneging on their promise to fully support local authorities during the coronavirus crisis, which has imposed twin blows of increased support service costs and greatly decreased income on councils. This figure is dwarfed by the £64.6 million shortfall faced by the county council.

"Labour have been calling for our elected MP, Victoria Prentis to intervene on behalf of her constituents for months. Sadly Ms Prentis’ response has been to ignore all warnings. Her level of care for the services her constituents rely on has been defined by her inaction, even as the crisis grew ever more serious and immediate."

Mr Woodcock commended a heartfelt open letter sent by his deputy, Cllr Shaida Hussain, asking for financial help to maintain Cherwell as a 'super growth district'.

And he quoted Conservative district and county councillor Nick Mawer, of Bicester, describing the local government funding hole as a ‘financial apocalypse’.

“I welcome the intervention of Conservative district councillors like Nick Mawer and Ian Corkin in calling for our MP to get off the fence and step up to the plate. They’ve spoken of an 'apocalypse' and 'existential threat' to local services because of the failure of national government to honour their previous commitments. They are absolutely right.”

Mrs Prentis told the Banbury Guardian this week: “This pandemic has created an enormous set of challenges for everyone, including both local and national government. I am fully aware of the funding difficulties facing our local authorities and I am in regular contact with the leaders of both Cherwell District Council and Oxfordshire County Council, as well as senior officials.

"Throughout this pandemic I have worked very closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and was responsible for securing a £63 million fund for county councils to provide financial help to those facing severe hardship, paying for food and other necessities.

"I know the councils in Oxfordshire are all finding this difficult and I am working closely with my Ministerial colleagues to ensure the concerns of our councils are heard at the top levels of Government. I feel it is inaccurate to say that I have 'ignored all warnings' and have been defined by 'inaction'. I shall be meeting again with council colleagues next week.

"The article from the Labour party fails to mention that when Cllr Hussain got in touch with me I shared a letter I had received from Ministers with her after writing to them about the impact of Coronavirus on Local Government. I also wrote again to MHCLG to flag up her particular concerns about the impact on high growth areas like our own.”