Opposition groups put forward their alternative budgets in response to that approved by Warwickshire County Council this week.

The controlling Conservative group's plans were voted through and these will see a 3.75 per cent increase in council tax and £65m of budget cuts over the next five years.

Cllr Jerry Roodhouse (Lib Dem, Eastlands), leader of the Liberal Democrat group, said: "Liberal Democrats have put together a set of proposals that invests more into fixing our broken pavements and introduce a highway action fund for 20mph speed limits, adult social care and children services including tackling long Covid.

"We are calling on the Tory administration to join with us and ensure that we see a fairer, more caring and greener Warwickshire."

Among the group's proposals were a £3m fund to tackle the worsening state of Warwickshire pavements and £400,000 over the next five years to help deliver the council's outdoor education strategy. A further £500,000 would have been invested over the next five years to support those with Dementia and Alzheimer's and their carers.

A key element of the Labour proposals was investment in the county's youngest children and those in care.

Deputy group leader Cllr Sarah Feeney (Lab, Benn) told the full council meeting: "We have asked for £1.4m for investment in the first 1,001 days of life. A child's life chances are impacted by their experiences and we need to give all our children the best start in life.

"For those in our care we can do better. We propose that the small home pilot for our children in care project be increased to three homes.

"We believe that not only will it give better outcomes to be in a small family-like unit for our children but it will also help us address the difficulties in finding the right place for those young people."

The Green budget included a transport transformation plan and fund.

Group leader Cllr Jonathan Chilvers (Green, Leamington Brunswick) said: "The administration's direction on this is frankly not good enough. In Warwickshire, vehicles release one million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year. It's the biggest area of emissions that we as the highway authority have influence over.

"Just a 1 per cent reduction would do far more than eliminating emissions from our entire estate. And yet this administration goes on its merry way irresponsibly building more and bigger roads at vast cost, tearing up our countryside, poisoning our lungs."

All three alternative budgets failed to win approval while the one put forward by the ruling Conservative group – with the inclusion of a friendly amendment from the Lib Dems raising the grants available to county councillors to £8,000 – being voted through by 37 votes to 12.

(Image by Elliot Brown via Flickr)

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