First budget meeting
Wednesday saw my first budget meeting on Kirklees Council. It began at 2.00 pm and finished at 9.00pm - not too bad compared to some there have been in the past. As is now the pattern the proposed budgets from all the groups were voted down. But prior negotiations between the Conservatives, the Lib Dems and the Greens had led to a consolidated budget which was then put to the vote and accepted. The Labour group naturally claimed a foul - but they had the opportunity to join in the negotiations at an early stage but chose to play silly games instead. The Lib Dems got all their proposals into the budget except one. I spoke in the debate on our scheme to put an extra £600,000 into mental health services for veterans and was delighted to see it passed. I also managed to secure £30,000 for maintenance of war memorials. A good day’s work.
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