Dudley Council accused of 'hiding' from budget scrutiny

The Conservative-run authority is planning to save around £7.7 million in the next financial year but chiefs are facing accusations they haven't allowed councillors to take a proper look at their plans.

Major council departments have committees dedicated to examining spending plans, but Labour says committee members have not been given time to delve into the details.

Labour finance spokesperson, Councillor Shaukat Ali, said: “This year for some reason they have taken the decision to organise a members’ Q&A.

"It doesn’t make sense, they seem to be hiding away from the committees.

“It is important for members to get in-depth scrutiny.”

The authority revealed its spending plans at a cabinet meeting on January 11 and held a Q&A meeting for members on January 17.

Council leader, Councillor Patrick Harley, says revealing spending plans in the new year was appropriate because the government did not make an announcement on the size of the council’s grant until mid-December.

Councillor Harley said: “Due to the lateness of the final settlement figure it was not possible to extend scrutiny to the usual meetings.”

Councillor Ali claims select committees could have discussed the budget before Christmas based on the council’s own forecasts which he says were different to the actual settlement by just £0.8m.

Councillor Harley hit back, saying: “Two years ago we made a decision to charge for green waste using the very same idea.

“Two days before the last working day of December the government gave us an additional £2m thereby negating the need to charge.

“To avoid the same scenario this year we waited – quite sensibly – to see what the final figure would be.”

The council budget is on the agenda for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on January 25 but Councillor Ali believes that is not good enough.

He said: “Only members of the overview committee will scrutinise, there is no clarity on how other members will be involved in scrutiny.”

Councillor Harley dismissed the complaint as ‘ridiculous’ and said the Q&A meeting was a first for the council where all members had a chance to question decisions.

He said: “Members had the opportunity to question and scrutinise at the meeting and both main groups have been briefed by the financial director.

“Also, I believe the attendance of the overview board is open to all members.

“This means any member from one of the other committees can attend and ask relevant questions.

“Therefore I would suggest scrutiny of this has been raised to a higher level than previous years.”