HOUSING BUDGET SPENT - APOLOGISE CALL (Pendle Liberal Democrats)

Pendle Liberal Democrats <info@pendlelibdems.org.uk>

HOUSING BUDGET SPENT - APOLOGISE CALL

April 26, 2010 1:57 AM

Pendle Council spent every penny in its housing regeneration budget in the last financial year - as Liberal Democrat Councillors Sonia Robinson and Tony Greaves had promised.

Councillor Robinson said: "Not a penny has been sent back to Regenerate Pennine Lancashire (formerly Elevate). Some projects in Pendle were over budget and some under budget, which is inevitable in work such as this. But overall every penny was spent. We have hit the target for the fifth year in succession. The housing staff have again done an excellent job."

The budget for the year was £10,533,588 and the actual spend was £10,540,961. The very small difference will come from general Council funds.

Councillor Greaves has called upon the Labour Leader Councillor Iqbal to apologise for the series of personal attacks he made on Councillor Robinson, calling for her resignation from her position of executive member for housing regeneration and chairman of the Housing Regeneration Committee.

Councillor Greaves said: "Once again Councillor Iqbal was wrong. But in view of the ferocity of his personal attacks on Councillor Robinson, I do think he should have the good grace to apologise."

Variations in the spend were due to the effect of the bad weather in January and February, the progress of house sales to the Council in different areas, delays in Elevate approval to some schemes, and the progress in planning schemes.

Projects which have not been completed will be finished in the present financial year while overspends are generally of projects that have been brought forward from this year.

Councillor Greaves added: "The system is crazy, that we have to hit an exact spend to the nearest pound in each year, but once again we have proved to be up to the task."