New Dudley Council leader Pete Lowe: We’ll fight relentless cuts
Defiant returning Dudley Council leader Pete Lowe has vowed to fight tooth and nail to stop spiralling cuts in government funding he fears will hit £100m by 2020.
The Labour councillor has made the battle against austerity his key priority while also revealing plans are in place to review proposals for a controversial Coseley travellers site in Budden Road.
It comes as he returned to the top job after his party seized control of the authority by the slenderest margin.
The Conservatives were ousted by just one vote as former Conservative councillor Heather Rogers shifted to Labour telling the crunch council meeting on Wednesday that the Tory leadership had allowed a culture of ‘bullying, victimisation and harassment’.
There are now calls for Mr Harley to step down as Conservative leader in Dudley. But he has vowed to fight on, and said criticisms were ‘vexatious’.
Councillor Lowe said he was writing to the Government to request a ‘fair deal’ when the local government funding settlement is announced later this year.
And with the council make-up still on a knife edge, he called on Tory councillors to support their Labour colleagues for ‘the greater good’.
He said: “We will need to work as all 72 councillors together. We recognise that the financial issues of this borough will not change because of a change of leader.
Mr Lowe added: “We have been cut by £76m since 2010 and it will be £100m by 2020.
“We are calling for a proper review of local authority funding that addresses the needs of the community.
“I will forcibly take that message to Government.”
Councillor Harley has vowed to fight on, and said criticisms over the party leadership – made by Councillor Heather Rogers, a former Conservative – were 'vexatious'.
