Blame Labour for council cuts

The first thing to point out is that the cuts to local government spending at both councils were imposed by the outgoing Labour government, and were started about a year ago.

On top of that, Labour had given West Sussex the lowest rate support grant of any English county for the last four years, vastly worsening the problem.

Thus, many of the cuts already made, and to come, were Labour government-driven.

Our concern locally is that many of the important middle-tier officers, concerned with front-line service delivery, are being axed, which will drastically reduce the quality of service to residents, and particularly the poorest and worst-housed in Arun.

In addition, at Arun we are bitterly opposed to the Tory-run council holding virtually all scrutiny meetings in secret, with press and public excluded, and grabbing all the scrutiny chairs for themselves, meaning that all decisions are made by Tories, and scrutinised in secret by Tory-chaired committees.

Hardly open or transparent, and certainly not democratic!

Liberal Democrats continue to be the major opposition at both Arun (Labour three councillors, Lib-Dem nine) and County Hall (Labour two councillors, Lib-Dem 20).

Dr James Walsh, Littlehampton Town, Arun District and county councillor,

The Street,

Rustington

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