Milton Keynes councillors clash over budget paper mistake

    The Labour and Lib Dem led Council has responded to Tory claims that they saved MK Council £1.5 million in lost cash.

    Local Conserative councillors say that thanks to them, MK Council have been gifted an additional £1.5 million cash injection from the Government.

    This comes as they claim that a 'ginormous error' was found by them in the Labour and Lib Dem run MK Council budget.

    If gone undetected, Conservatives say that the mistake could have led to the council missing out on £1.5million from the Government'S New Home Bonus.

    The New Home Bonus is a grant from the government paid to councils to incentivise housebuilding and bringing long-term empty properties back into use. 

    MK Council are now set to receive £6 million from the Government grant, meaning additional repairs to potholes and pathways can take place. 

    Cllr Alex Walker, Leader of the Conservative Group, said: “This was a huge error caused by blundering Council that has taken its eye off the ball once again. 

    "Their competence and ability to run MK Council is in serious question given that without the Conservatives, they would have lost MK’s taxpayers £1.5 million, enough to fix 27,000 additional potholes. 

    "But thanks to our action, that money is now back in the pocket of MK and can be used to benefit our residents.” 

    Councillor Rob Middleton, Labour Progressive Alliance Cabinet Member for Resources, told MKFM that it is 'regrettable' but mistakes can happen.

    He said: “A mistake was made when filling out one of the many hundreds of forms the Council is asked to complete by Central Government each year. This mistake was corrected and a new form was submitted to Central Government.

     “It is regrettable that this mistake happened, but it was just that, a mistake. These mistakes can happen from time to time however much we try. We're pleased that Central Government acknowledged that MK shouldn't suffer because of a mistake made on a form and have therefore granted MKC the full amount of funding due.

     “The Tories are attempting to distract everyone from the simple truth: in this year's budget the Progressive Alliance is proposing a below-inflation council tax increase, isn't cutting core services, and overall, residents in MK pay less but get more than every neighbouring council.”

    You can have a read of the budget proposals here.

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