LOCAL ANGER AS LIB DEMS SPLASH OUT AND CUT JOBS & SERVICES

LIGHTS OUT IN SWANSEA - LIGHTS ON IN WALTER RD 

As headteachers write to parents condemning £5million of cuts to schools whilst the Council sit on £14million of corporate contingency funds anger has been growing amongst residents subjected to an increasing bombardment of glossy material and unsolicited phone calls promoting a Liberal Democrat councillor for Parliament at the centre of the financial mess.

Thanks to multi-million pound losses on computer systems - including the £9.4 million to be paid to CapGemmini and £2.3 million to Oracle in the Budget - and a £10 million overspend on the Council's failing social services, the City faces cuts across the board from 1000 street lights going out, to a halving of bin collection frequency, plus 600 job losses and council tax up twice the rate of inflation.

Meanwhile the Lib Dems have no shortage of cash for their new shop front in Walter Rd., hot on the heels of a constant stream of glossy literature which, despite their shop-local campaign, is printed in England. Donors from outside Swansea are funding the massive publicity campaign trying to persuade residents into voting Lib Dem again.

”Before the last Council Election the Liberal Democrats didn’t tell us the financial mess they were in. Only now do we see the consequence of voting Lib Dem. We won’t be fooled again” said Mrs. Ceri Davies of Uplands Crescent. "They make empty promises as they can’t form a Government and will just prop up the Tories to deliver the “savage cuts” advocated by their Leader Nick Clegg.

“As  they cut Swansea services it’s sickening to see the Liberal Democrat councillors responsible splashing out on literature, unsolicited phone calls and new premises to promote one of their discredited bunch for Parliament” said Derek James of Terrace Rd. "They should have thought twice before selecting a councillor at the centre of the city’s financial mess as their parliamentary candidate. He calls himself the so-called Old People's Champion yet stands back as Earsmoor Respite Care Home and Brynmill Library are closed in Uplands where he's the councillor!".

In response to the Liberal Democrat spending spree on marketing Labour has launched an online appeal on its candidate Geraint Davies' website  www.geraintdavies.org

Note for Editor There is a £7.1 million overspend  in Children & Family Services & a £2.7 million overspend in Adult Social Services. The Medium Term Financial Plan  includes £9.4 million to be paid to CapGemmini for the “e-government programme” as a consequence of the Cabinet decision made at the meeting on 1st December 2005 presided over by the Leader Councillor Chris Holley, plus £2.3 million to be paid to Oracle to keep the payroll system going.

"The £2.428 million needed to fund the Teachers pay rise should be restored to the devolved school budgets as should the £1.286 million needed for special needs. That £3.714 million should be funded out of the £14.191 million Corporate Reserves" said Geraint Davies