Finance chief describes cuts as “savage”

Councillor Farooq Ahmed

Rochdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance described the cuts being imposed on the Council from central government as “savage".

Councillor Farooq Ahmed described the cuts from the Lib Dem/Conservative coalition as an “assault on the borough of Rochdale.”

Councillor Ahmed said services both inside and outside the local authority will suffer from cuts and described them as “too far and too fast”.

Speaking about the budget and the cuts facing Rochdale, the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party, Councillor Irene Davidson, said: “We are all local people trying to look after local people.”

The Leader of the Conservative Party, Councillor Ashley Dearnley added: “This is an unprecedented amount of money and an unprecedented situation.

“We are all here working together for the benefit of our borough.”

Councillor Dearnley said that he understands the difficult decisions which have been made and that they have not been made lightly.

 “I commend this budget in these difficult times,” concluded Councillor Dearnley.

The Leader of the Independent Alliance Party, Councillor Greg Couzens, said that although some of the cuts are “unpalatable” the party recognises that all local authorities are facing the same budget constraints.

Many parts of the budget were put forward by the Liberal Democrat and Conservative Council before its collapse in December, which Councillor Greg Couzens, in his role as portfolio holder for finance worked on.

The Liberal Democrat leader, Councillor Davidson said that she “blamed herself” and if it had not have been for her illness maybe she would be the one making the budget speech.