LIVERPOOL LIBERAL DEMOCRATS HAVE CREATED A £29 MILLION DEFICIT IN THE CAPITAL OF CULTURE BUDGET ALREADY!

LAST WEEK WE WERE TOLD THE SUMMER POPS WOULD NOW GO AHEAD AGAIN IN SEFTON THOUGH, AND WOULD NOW ONLY COST US LIVERPOOL £50,000. NOW THE LIVERPOOL LIBERAL DEMOCRATS ARE COVERING UP A £29 MILLION SHORTFALL IN THE BUDGET FOR 2008!
WHAT HYPOCRITES!!

SEE BELOW

£29m saving needed to stop 2008 crisis

Mar 6 2007

by Catherine Jones, Liverpool Echo

Leader of Liverpool City Council, Cllr Warren Bradley

CITY leaders need to find £29m savings in three months to avoid a financial disaster in 2008.

The shortfall in council revenue, outlined in a “budget reconciliation” document given to the ECHO, includes more than £21m earmarked for Capital of Culture itself.

The culture figure is made up of £5.8m deferred from this year, £12m of additional spending already earmarked for 2008 celebrations, and a gap of almost £4m in expected revenue from sponsorship.

The ECHO revealed on Saturday how a detailed plan on ways to fund the shortfall was being drawn up and would be presented in June.

Today we can disclose the scale of deficit the council will have to address.

• The figures suggest £29.4m shortfall is after assumed efficiency savings and a council tax rise in 2008/9 of 3.7%.

• Council leader Warren Bradley today insisted the money would be found and Capital of Culture go ahead as planned.

But deputy opposition leader Paul Brant said: “Liberal Democrats have created a financial time bomb set to go off in 2008 with no explanation of how they are going to pay for Capital of Culture year.

“It could destroy the reputation of Liverpool as a city and prevent it getting the benefits we all hoped Capital of Culture could deliver. It’s financial madness what the council is doing.”

Cllr Bradley said he was fed up with “scaremongering” which he claimed did nothing but damage Liverpool’s image.

He said: “What a lot of rubbish. We’ve given an assurance we will deliver Capital of Culture and won’t go back on that .

“We will find the savings as we have year on year on year.

CUTS CUTS CUTS

“There’s nothing being hidden here. We will deliver our forward strategy in June which will deal with the £29.4m that we’ve got to find next year.”

• Cllr Bradley said the city was looking at brownfield sites which could generate lucrative revenue. One has been identified in Garston.

• Other potential ideas include borrowing a proportion of the money, to be repaid over several years.

• But Cllr Bradley said selling buildings and leasing them back was ruled out.

catherinejones@liverpoolecho.co.uk