Green amendments to Labour budget secure extra support for city’s communities and demand greater efforts to combat climate change
Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty, Convenor of the Green Group of Councillors commented:
“This is the Labour budget. Opposition parties are only granted six amendments to it, and we have fought hard to make sure our communities remain a priority. We have pushed to improve the budget being proposed– and our work will now see over £12.5m put back into the council budget, providing serious investment into climate change mitigation, support for the homeless and challenging the plans to reduce funding for some of our most vital public services, such as substance misuse rehab and libraries.
“Once again, Greens assert that prevention is better than cure – cutting public services costs more economically, and socially, than it will ever save in the short term. We have shared with the city our approach, and while we cannot rescue this Labour budget, our focus on the value of prevention means that Greens make sound investments without robbing from one service to pay for another. Unlike the Tories, who see fit to hand down austerity year upon year, and a divided Labour who have brought forward no new ideas, it is time for a Green vision for the future of our city that puts our communities first.”