HFM News reports that the Conservatives have seized control of Harborough District Council this evening:
A motion to remove Liberal Democrat leader Phil Knowles and replace him with Tory group leader Simon Whelband was approved by 17 votes to 16 at an extraordinary council meeting tonight.
Councillor Knowles had led a 16-strong coalition of Liberal Democrat, Labour, Green and independent councillors since 2023, although that number fell to 15 last week following the death of Labour councillor David Gair, who represented Lutterworth.
As Phil Knowles has been saying in recent weeks, with investment in leisure centres and a community grant scheme, this coalition has achieved more than the Tories did in 20 years before it.
And HFM News has another story today that shows what Tory control can mean:
A company owned by Harborough District Council is set to be shut down after making losses of more than £800,000 over two years.
Harborough District Commercial Services was set up in 2019 and purchased two retail units in Market Harborough town centre, currently occupied by Sports Direct and Tesco, along with flats above.
The intention was for the arms-length company to invest in further property to generate income for the authority, but no further purchases were made.
The ruling coalition group at the council says the company, established before it took control of the authority, has been a "complete white elephant."
Am I being wise after the event? No this is what I wrote when the company was set up:
I am all in favour of municipal enterprise and councils having their own income streams. But they are being rather driven to these sort of speculations because of the savage cuts in central government funding.
Some councils are going to come a cropper doing this, and I hope Harborough isn't one of them.
Compared to some councils we got off lightly, but this episode doesn't make me feel any happier about the return of Harborough Tories.
As a resident of Harborough and a former HDC employee, I'd make a few observations:
ReplyDeleteFirst, control of Harborough District Council changed last week because the Lib Dems lost four councillors elected in 2023: one loss was due to the sad passing of a veteran member, but the other three all resigned from the Lib Dems to sit as Independents. One of these subsequently gave up her seat. The reasons for these resignations were never really explained to the community, and this led to a sense that the Coalition was less than transparent.
Second, many of us voted Lib Dem in 2023 because the Party was committed to oppose excessive, unsustainable development in the District; but within a few months of taking office, the Coalition agreed to accept an additional housing allocation to meet Leicester City's 'unmet' housing need (the 'Statement of Common Ground'). This alienated many of us and probably accounts for the Conservatives' winning two subsequent by-elections and the change of control. Although it would be naïve to believe that the Tories will be any more successful in opposing over-development, they may at least try to do so.
ReplyDeleteThird, I entirely agree about that establishing an 'arms-length' body to invest in development was a mistake, but in fairness, this kind of initiative was being widely promoted by local government consultants, think-tanks and bureaucrats during the last decade; it was also being facilitated by central government through public sector loans. The attractions of regenerating sites like The Commons whilst securing easy revenue were obvious, but the risks were overlooked. Several Councils are now in dire straits due to this craze (much as happened when they invested in Icelandic Banks the decade before). This is true of authorities run by all parties, including the Lib Dems, such as Eastleigh.
ReplyDeleteFinally, the fact that the Lib Dem Coalition has found so much money for community grants and the re-wilding scheme raises questions: for at least 10 years before 2023, we were told that HDC faced serious long-term financial challenges (a 'cliff-edge') and yet now it has hundreds of thousands to spend. Of course, this may be partly due to all the incentives Councils receive to accept housing development (New Homes Bonus, CIL, S106 etc.), but it may also be that HDC is spending its reserves so that they are not transferred to a new Unitary Authority after Local Government Reorganisation: that looks like a political decision and whilst there are arguments for it, I hope that the politicians involved won't be so hypocritical as to blame cuts and Council Tax rises made by a Unitary on the new Council's financial mismanagement.
ReplyDelete