Labour concern over Council leadership

Simon Danczuk

Rochdale’s Labour Parliamentary Candidate, Simon Danczuk, has raised concerns over the leadership of Rochdale Council. Commenting on William Hobhouse being forced to resign as executive member for finance he said: “William Hobhouse’s resignation comes as no surprise to me, as his behaviour in recent weeks has been outrageous. To be thrown out of a council planning meeting by your own party for bringing council business into disrepute is bad enough. But to then question the integrity of other councillors by making scandalous allegations that even he admitted he couldn’t prove is politics at its worst. This is the level of infantile, attack-minded politics that I’ve come to expect from the Lib Dems in Rochdale, as I have personal experience of being attacked like this myself.

“I said after Sir Menzies Campbell was forced to resign that the Lib Dems are in meltdown and I have no reason to think differently here in Rochdale. This is a party that is paralysed by deep internal divisions. We have seen Rochdale’s Lib Dem leadership split over adult care services; they were split over appointments to outside bodies earlier in the year and they are now trying to appoint a Lib Dem with practically no local government experience, Greg Couzens, to run a multi-million pound local authority. This gives me and I’m sure the residents of Rochdale deep concerns about the governance of our town.

“We have seen in the last 12 months millions of pounds go uncollected in council tax, we have seen Rochdale residents, including myself, have difficulty actually getting through to the service to make payments, and it has recently been revealed there are a number of ‘stealth taxes’ being introduced which increase various service charges well above inflation.

"Effective financial management of Rochdale Council is paramount to delivering good local services.

"Whilst Councillor Couzens might be an honourable chap I do not believe it is right to give him this much responsibility when he was only elected in May. I know from my many years experience of local government that such an appointment could create further financial problems in the future.

"If our Council leader, Alan Taylor, is proposing to carry most of the finance portfolio and believes he has the capacity to do this, in addition to his current responsibilities, then why hasn’t he already been doing this and saving council tax payers the allowance Councillor Hobhouse has been receiving.

"If Councillor Couzens is not taking full responsibility for the portfolio then what allowances will he claim?

"I am seriously worried about whether the Lib Dem leadership have thought through all this, or whether they are just reacting to the situation. Rochdale really does deserve better.” 

Labour Councillor Colin Lambert added: “The Lib Dems should be clear why they forced Councillor Hobhouse to resign. The real reason is the budget is in a mess, he [Councillor Hobhouse] has overseen spending such as £200 per hour [£8000 per week] being spent on agency workers emptying bins - whilst imposing a pay cut on the full time staff who empty our bins every week.”

Councillor Lambert asks could there be other reasons for Councillor Hobhouse’s forced departure?

• “Is it because he imposed massive cuts in adult care that has seen home care for the elderly ended by Rochdale Council?
• “Is it because at the last council meeting he spoke out of turn and offered Heywood township full control of all their budgets?
• “Is it because he has stepped out of line at regulatory committee and announced that he would always vote with the officers decision - in which case why waste your vote on a Lib Dem? 
• “Is it because under his control £3.5 million has been uncollected in council tax?
• “Is it that he sanctioned the spending of £150,000 to pay a ‘People’s Champion’?”

Councillor Lambert says it is a disgrace that the Lib Dems are now on their third Cabinet Member for Finance in a very short time and have now handed the complex portfolio to Greg Couzens, a Councillor with just six months experience. He said: “They flip from one mess to another”.