Less money on spin and more money on services, was the message from Liberal Democrats as the group announced its budget at Essex County Council today (10 February). Also included in the budget was a one-off rebate, giving back taxpayers money that has been stockpiled by the ruling Conservatives for several years.

The Lib Dems revealed their own budget and vision for Essex including these measures:

A cut in the council’s spend on publicity and spin with the money going straight into providing frontline services

A one off rebate of £50 to each household in council tax property bands A-D which would benefit around ¾ of households in Essex

Increased spending on young people including measures for getting more young people into work through an apprenticeship scheme

Extra money for advising people on reducing and recycling as much rubbish as possible

Speaking about the budget Cllr Tom Smith-Hughes, Liberal Democrats group leader said: “There have been two trends to the current administration’s term of office, one has been the use of council taxpayers’ money to build up huge reserve funds that have sat unused for years. We have remedied this, by recommending that a one-off £50 rebate is given to around 440,000 households across the county, putting much needed cash back into the pockets of low and middle-income earning families.

“The other trend is that basic public services have been neglected, whilst the council’s appetite for self-promotion has skyrocketed. The administration is now in a position where its services for safeguarding vulnerable children have been found by independent inspectors to be so worryingly inadequate that a monthly report to a government minister is required. On the other hand, we have seen an endless stream of headline grabbing gimmicks from the council’s media department, including the cringe-worthy job offer made to whichever contestant was runner-up in the BBC’s ‘The Apprentice’ show, before the winners were known. We have recommended cutting the publicity budget and putting the money directly into frontline services.

“There has been a seismic shift by the Tories, away from providing high quality basic public services and towards running a corporation that is focussed on branding and image. Clearly we are seeing a jaded administration bored with the day job and looking for something more exotic that makes them look important – regrettably at the taxpayers’ expense.”