THE leader of Lichfield District Council has hit back at a local MP in a debate over funding for a new cinema.
Work is continuing on the development of the new Everyman facility in the former Debenhams building in the city centre.
But questions have been raised over an additional £5.5million of funding from Lichfield District Council for the scheme.
Labour MP Dave Robertson has written to the local authority's Conservative leader Cllr Doug Pullen over concerns regarding where the funding will come from – and the impact it could have.
He said:
"Residents deserve a clear explanation of how this additional funding will be met, including which reserves may be used, the impact on the council's finances and whether other local priorities could be affected.
"I've written to the Cllr Pullen seeking answers and greater transparency on the funding arrangements for this project."
In his letter, Mr Robertson said he was keen to understand how the £5.5million would be raised – and he also questioned how a planned £150,000 of savings would be realised.
Cllr Pullen responded:
"A total of £2,561,000 of reserves are being used. This is a blend drawn from across the council's reserves, following a thorough review of reserve levels undertaken ahead of local government reorganisation.
"That review assessed which reserves were no longer required for their original purpose or could be released without weakening the council's overall financial resilience, before any funding was earmarked for the cinema project.
"On the £2,850,000 of internal borrowing, balance sheet projections identified that up to £3,000,000 currently invested could be repurposed to fund this internally. The cost of that borrowing has been fully offset by savings identified.
"There is no impact on other priorities, including investment in Burntwood town centre.
"There will be no redundancies or reductions in staffing levels as a result of the saving. It comes from the partial use of a contingency budget set aside to fund major projects."
Cllr Pullen told Lichfield Live that while the cinema development had "not been pretty", he was pleased to see it progressing.
He explained:
"I've replied to Dave in full, setting out exactly the same information that was given to every councillor before the decision was taken.
"The cinema project has not been pretty, but our pre-election commitment to deliver it is one we intend to keep, without raising taxes or making any cuts to do so.
"It is worth noting that Dave has voted with his party on every single occasion since being elected, including for higher capital gains tax, a new tax on pension salary sacrifice, real-terms increases to income tax, higher stamp duty, easier early release for offenders, the removal of the winter fuel allowance, and the removal of local communities' veto over major energy infrastructure in their own areas.
"If Dave truly wishes to hold decision-makers to account on behalf of Lichfield residents, I might suggest he lifts his gaze from a district council to the rather larger institution in Westminster and starts to challenge his own Government on our behalf."
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