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Tories block free swimming for unders 16s
By Steve Hanlon | October 16, 2008
Paul Cotterill reports that the council last night decided to deny under 16’s the right to free swimming in the district’s pools. Despite the fact that the Council could draw from the £40 million that the Government has made available to make this happen.
I know no more than what Paul has written at the moment but I’ll try to get to the bottom of it. I honestly can’t see why a council would decide against this when the cash is there. The only thing I can think of is that the Tories are trying to make some sort of political statement.
Regardless of what argument they might have used last night, there is no good reason for voting against this scheme. This is a reprehensible decision.
I am certain that every one of the Labour Group will have voted to use the Government money for free swimming and that the Tories won it on the back of their thumping majority. I _hope_ that our Labour councillors demanded a recorded vote so we can see if any Tories had the sense to vote in favour of it.
an update 21st October: Paul Cotterill has a couple of updates with the background on this decision by the Tories. Best to check over there for a good analysis of how they try to defend their decision and Paul’s attempts to hold them to account.
Topics: Local Politics |