Furious councillors walk out in protest at West Berkshire Council budget meeting
Opposition leader Lee Dillon accused Conservatives of trying to silence them
Jonathan Ashby
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A WEST Berkshire Council meeting descended into chaos last night after the opposition Liberal Democrat and Green councillors virtually stormed out in protest at debating time being cut short.
Leader of the opposition Lee Dillon (Lib Dem, Thatcham North East) called on his councillors to leave the meeting after he and others were blocked from speaking on amendments to the Conservative-led council’s revenue budget.
The three Green councillors then followed suit, meaning neither opposition party voted on the final revenue budget, which saw council tax rise by 1.99 per cent.
Over half that money (£76.66 million) will be spent on ‘People Directorate’ services, which include adult social care, public health and children and family services. The council, which is legally required to balance the books each year, says it will have to save £3.7 million in 2021/22 but it will not make cuts that affect front-line services. The council could have increased council tax by a total of five per cent – but decided it does not need a three per cent increase to pay for adult social care. That’s because it has finished 2020/21 with £3.4 million to spare, as demand for expensive council-funded social care has dropped significantly due to a high number of Covid-19 care home deaths in West Berkshire.