On Monday 17th Oct the YEP ran a front-page story about Leeds noise nuisance service.
Cllr Mark Dobson
This is the other side of the argument from Cllr Mark Dobson, Executive Board Member for Environmental Services and Licensing.
Noise is a serious issue in Headingley and we recognise that, but we feel people need to know the truth of the matter e.g. that this service was traditionally funded by grants, rather than the council, and the new Coalition Government failed to continue that financial support. So now the council is picking up the tab, amidst huge budget cuts and we are working hard to provide that service.
Here is the letter to the YEP in full:
I am writing regarding the YEP’s article on noise nuisance dated 17th October. I have to say I find it deeply disappointing that Cllr Matthews has chosen to criticise the service provided by the city council in the manner he did. Using provocative words such as ‘woeful’ helps no one and will have a de-motivating effect on hard pressed front line staff working hard for the public in often trying circumstances.
What Cllr Matthews conveniently forgot to mention is that the service radically improved in September but I acknowledge there are shortfalls in the service and would like to assure residents we are working hard to meet these challenges.
More fundamentally, he completely fails to address why the council is struggling to add extra resources in this area. This is a service which was traditionally funded by grants from the previous government. The coalition government of which Cllr Matthews party are a part, offered no such funding to fill the gap when they took power and as
such we had to find the money ourselves from what is already a very stretched budget.It would have been easy for us to remove this service in the face of the worst government financial settlement Leeds has ever faced. However we chose, quite rightly, to continue the service as we believe this is the right thing to do.
I am more than a little fed up of the games the Liberal Democrats continue to engage in. During the six years they ran the council they continuously bemoaned what they perceived as under funding from central government.
Now they bemoan how Leeds City Council funds it
services – it really it is all a bit rich.I personally challenged Cllr Matthews on live radio last week to put his money where his mouth is and lobby the Liberal Democrat MP in Leeds to secure extra funding for the city.
I reiterate that challenge here. The Liberal Democrats are used to sniping from the sidelines with no comeback. They simply cannot play these games anymore now they are in government and imposing such draconian cuts on the Council.
I will be holding Cllr Matthews to the pledges he made to me on trying to secure more funding, which if delivered, would help enhance a whole range of services that the city most desperately needs.
Cllr Mark Dobson
Executive Board Member for Environmental Services and Licensing
