BCP Council leader Cllr Drew Mellor denies being 'fantasist' over budget plans

BCP Council leader Cllr Drew Mellor was accused of being a “complete fantasist” over his Conservative administration’s budget plans.

The claim came from Labour's Cllr Lewis Allison, of Boscombe West, who also said he changed explanations depending on who he was talking to, writes Trevor Bevins of the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

But Cllr Mellor said the authority had a good track record of delivering savings while investing in transforming services and regenerating the area.

“One of us is living in fantasy land – and it’s not me,” he said.

Cllr Mellor said that despite being hit by more than £50m extra expenditure because of inflation, the council was still on track to deliver an equivalent sum in transformation savings.

It was predicted to end the financial year with a balanced budget and a projected surplus, he said..

He told an overview committee that the council was prepared to go ahead with the sale of some "non-core" assets to balance to books, although denied that this amounted to a "fire sale".

Cllr Mellor said he would not considering selling anything which brought income or which might be needed for future improvements to the area.

He said he was against selling assets but would do so if the council needed to avid relying on the government for funding with strings attached.

Cllr Mellor said the council’s estimated £36bn of assets should be used to deliver “a long-term sustainable future for this area” not sold off for short-term solutions.

Councillors were told that he had “a high degree” of confidence in making a further £50m in changes by streamlining services and making efficiency savings.

But Cllr Mike Cox, Liberal Democrat member for Christchurch Town, said that despite the leader’s claims the council was only doing well compared to other authorities of a similar size because it was “first in line with begging bowl”.

He said the council’s auditors were not confident that the authority could make the savings it intended and local people would be facing a 1-2% increase in council tax next year if targets were missed.

He claimed that not all the savings to be made had yet been identified.

Cllr Steve Bartlett said the budget had already been squeezed hard and he doubted if much more could be achieved, describing the Conservative group’s aims as “not realistic”.

Cllr Mellor said there was still work yet to be completed on the detail of next year’s budget which would be taking place between now and January or February.