"There's No Money Left" - Labour Have Pushed Sefton's Finances to the Brink say Sefton Conservatives

THE till is empty, they've raided the piggy bank, they've increased your taxes and there's no money left; the cost of 14 years of Labour in Sefton is there for all to see say Sefton Conservatives.

Conservative Group Leader on Sefton Council, Mike Prendergast, has said the current Labour administration, at Sefton Council has, over the course of 14 years:- "pushed the authority to the brink of financial ruin."

Recently published papers show that the overspend for the current financial year is over £29 million, a figure that has consistently increased during the year. Yet, at the recent Cabinet meeting, Labour Councillors spent just over 14 minutes discussing the situation, less than 1 minute for every £2 million of overspending.

Commenting Councillor Prendergast said:- "The situation is dire, Labour have destroyed Sefton's finances. There is no money left, assets are going to be sold to meet day to day expenditure and Labour are going to increase everyone's Council Tax again. It is a scandalous way to treat taxpayers money and a terrible indictment of the way Labour have treated the management of local finances. Over the 14 years of Labour in Sefton, by the time we get this years Budget, households will have seen their Council Tax rise by around 55%. That's hundreds of pounds extra every year that all local residents are paying. Yet during those 14 years, Labour have found the money to loan £8 million to a building company, set up a catering company that has lost £1.9 million so far, buy Bootle Strand with a loan that will end up costing Sefton tax payers £42.5 million for a shopping centre worth less than £15 million. They ran Children's Social Care into the ground, resulting in an inadequate rating back in 2022, requiring massive investment of well over £300 million since then to repair the damage they caused. Poor choices over a prolonged period of time have led us here. The proposed Labour Budget is a shocking indictment of how Sefton's finances have been run. There is quite literally no money left with General Balances at nil and the proposed way of rebuilding them is through raiding pension monies. Using the savings of others to pay for their mismanagement. There is a failure to recognise the seriousness of the current situation; pats on the back from the Labour Councillors making the decisions, saying how marvellous a job they are doing and failing to accept any responsibility for the situation we are now in. The 1 thing you can guarantee with this Sefton Labour administration is that whatever the dire situation local finances are in, it will not be their fault. It will be everyone's fault but their own, accepting absolutely no responsibility for the utter mess they have made of things. Sefton taxpayers deserve so much better than this, ultimately it's their money being spent by a Labour Party in Sefton who are clearly out of their depth. Poor choices lead to poor outcomes and we are seeing the results of 14 years worth of poor political leadership."