Bedford Borough Labour Group has defended its decision to abstain from voting on the council’s budget, saying the proposals failed to put the authority on a “solid and sustainable” footing but that voting against a lawful budget was not a responsible alternative.
The budget was defeated at Full Council last night (Wednesday) after being voted down by 18 councillors to 16, with 11 abstentions. Labour councillors made up the largest single group to abstain, a move that forced the administration back to the drawing board.
Following the vote, the Conservative mayor warned the decision carried “serious risks”, including a greater likelihood of government intervention.
Read: Borough Council executive forced back to drawing board after narrow vote rejects budget
“Not fence sitting”
Labour group leader cllr Abu Sultan said the decision to abstain was a “conscious and responsible choice”, rejecting claims that the party had avoided taking a position.
He told the council chamber that while Labour accepted the authority could meet its statutory duties with government support in place, that did not mean the budget addressed the underlying problems.
“This budget does not fix the problem,” he said. “It gets the council through another year. It pushes the hardest decisions further down the road and leaves too many services still stretched, with little confidence that next year will be any easier.”
Cllr Sultan said Labour could not support a budget it did not believe was strong enough, but would not vote against a lawful budget without a credible alternative.
“Opposing a budget without a deliverable plan does not fix broken finances,” he said. “It simply avoids responsibility.”
Criticism of timing and leadership
Deputy Labour group leader cllr Sue Oliver said the administration had acted too late, arguing that earlier intervention could have avoided the current position.
Read: Bedford Labour Group calls for “unity and responsibility” following damning CIPFA report
She said warnings about the council’s financial position had been made clear by independent advisers last April, but had not been acted on quickly enough.
In a statement directed to the mayor and his executive, she said: “The council is legally obliged to set a balanced budget,” she said, “So, although we are not supporting your proposals, neither are we blocking them.
“Responsibility for delivering this budget and its consequences lies with the administration.”
The other deputy group leader, cllr Carl Meader, was more direct, describing the proposals as “an awful budget” and blaming the situation on what he called a lack of urgency and direction from the Conservative leadership.
He said Labour abstained because it understood the implications of failing to set a budget, despite believing the current situation could have been avoided through genuine cross-party working.
“The Council is now in a financial mess that we did not create, and the blame for this must be directed at a woeful administration who have lacked urgency and direction and seemed to take months to fully recognise the severity of the situation, which was clear to us after our meeting with Teresa Grant and CIPFA last April,” he said.
“This is an awful budget that could have been avoided with genuine cross-party working, but this is now the time to be responsible and act in the interest of all residents within Bedford Borough.”
Other parties remain critical
Other opposition groups were less willing to withhold their votes.
The Liberal Democrats said the budget was “not credible” and warned that passing plans without a realistic route to long-term stability would hasten government intervention.
Green councillors said they could not support proposals involving significant redundancies and what they described as excessive spending on external providers.
Independent councillors also raised concerns about the council’s reliance on borrowing through Exceptional Financial Support, warning that the cost would ultimately fall on residents.
Mayor warns of risks
Following the vote, mayor Wootton said he was “deeply disappointed” the budget had been voted down, describing it as lawful and shaped through months of engagement and external scrutiny.
Read: Calls for greater transparency with public as Mayor admits request for £55m government bailout
He warned that failure to set a budget placed the council in a “precarious position” and increased the risk that decisions would be taken out of local hands.
Read: Mayor’s leaked letter offers stark warning if budget isn’t approved
The Conservative administration must now return with revised proposals to set a legally balanced budget, with the next Full Council meeting scheduled for 25 February.
