EXCLUSIVE: The leader of Lichfield District Council has apologised to councillors who only found out the detail of plans for a £1.7million cuts programme by reading LichfieldLive.
The local authority is facing a funding shortfall and has outlined a programme of measures which will also put 20 jobs at risk.
The Fit for the Future review has put forward proposals to reduce opening times at King Edward VI Leisure Centre, cut back on playschemes and sports coaching sessions, as well as introducing charges for public toilets and Shopmobility services.
But some councillors only received an official email about the plans this morning (May 30) – the day after LichfieldLive exclusively broke the news.
And now the leader of Lichfield District Council has clarified the situation with other members of the local authority.
“I briefed my Group [of Conservative councillors] on the first stage of Fit for the Future last Thursday,” Cllr Mike Wilcox wrote in an email to all councillors. “This was followed up by a meeting with Steve Norman [Labour Group leader] on Tuesday evening.
“We had also been informed by LichfieldLive on Tuesday that they had received information from an unknown source about our proposals.
“We managed to stall them with the intention of firstly issuing the staff briefing yesterday [Wednesday] at 3pm and today issued this briefing to all councillors.
“As you are aware LichfieldLive is running this story.
“I can only apologise to those councillors who were unaware of the contents of the briefing until it arrived by email today.”
But the Labour opposition on Lichfield District Council said they deserved “a bit more respect” and insisted it was essential that all parties were kept updated.
“I don’t think it’s acceptable for the controlling Conservative leaders to brief their own members last week and leave Labour opposition members in the dark,” said the Labour Group chair, Cllr Sue Woodward.
“I quite understand the need to let those most affected know first – the staff who are likely to lose their jobs – but we are the democratically-elected representatives of our communities too, and our residents will also suffer from these cuts.
“We work hard as opposition members to test the decisions of the Tory Group and ensure all sides of an issue are explored. Good and responsible opposition makes for better local government.
“We, and our electors, deserve a bit more respect than we’ve been shown here.”
Editor’s note: For clarification, LichfieldLive learned of the recommendations of Lichfield District Council’s Fit for the Future review over the weekend, but agreed not to run the original story until workers likely to be affected by the cuts had been informed through the appropriate channels.
