GREEN Party councillors are the last people who should be giving lectures on financial management at Oxford City Council (“Council denies hoarding cash, Oxford Mail, May 2) .
Readers may remember earlier this year, the Green Party laughably claimed the council could make thousands of pounds by growing and harvesting hay on council verges, and should levy a ‘hotel tax’ – which is legally impossible.
When they ran the council, the Greens started charging to collect bulky items of rubbish, costing a fortune in dealing with the fly-tipping which inevitably resulted.
The council has set a budget which balances over four years, and which leaves reserves just above the minimum level at the end of that period (not “several million pounds more” than needed, as the Greens claim). We are trying desperately hard to manage horrendous cuts in funding imposed upon us by central government, while protecting jobs and services as far as possible.
By claiming that the council has excessive balances, or is “hoarding” cash, the Greens are lending credibility to the Government’s unfair propaganda, justifying the cuts, as well as misleading your readers.
ED TURNER, Board Member for Finance, Oxford City Counci
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