Dan, if we want to go into the history of it, I'm not sure your lot will come out of it terribly well either. One thing about having historically high balances prior to 2000 that you were keen (indeed told) to spend to reduce them to the prudent level was that patterns of expenditure became entrenched such that when the balances were back down at prudent levels that expenditure was unsustainable and not backed up by revenue.

To be fair when you handed over in 2000 these pressures were only just beginning to be felt and the systems that whoever was in control needed to put in place (notably new software systems) were well underway but were not being well handled.

All Business Unit Managers in December 01 agreed to the levels of savings put into the 01/02 budget, though I suspect that had the finance director been in place for a bit longer before that he would have been more circumspect.

But when all's said and done a alanced budget" is just that and not at all indicative of "healthy" books, and, for example, there is still as I understand it a considerable unfunded future liability for things like Decent Homes and a loss, effectively, of £3.5m on leisure. I wonder also how much effect the FRS17 unfunded pensions rules will have - it's certainly not insignificant in other members of the Oxon LGPS fund.

I cannot remember an occasion when Oxford City Council has not been a basket case, before 2000, between 2000-2002, or since.

In any case my claim was not about the source of this money but about doing nice things with the spare change."

I am quite interested in having a discussion about why your lot seem quite so upset by our constructive opposition. Most of the work that the council does continues to be cross-party, as it was before May. On any number of individual issues, and a wide range of policy issues, we all work together pretty well.

Where we have been critical is where the new administration has tried to push through changes in policy which are opposed by a majority of councillors, as on the South East Plan and recycling. Winning nine out of twenty five seats in the May elections did not give a mandate to act as if the Lib Dems were somehow in a majority. I know consultation has never been John Goddard's strong point, but I'd have thought that some of the more sensible Lib Dems would have been contacting us or the Greens to agree ways forward which could command the support of a majority of councillors in advance of meetings, rather than the rather embarrassing shambles that we've seen so far.

It's quite hard to be constructive when new policies do not feature in your manifesto and instead are announced in the form of an amendment to a motion to council presented on the day (as with incineration); or when members of the administration vote against an amendment which just states policy which they have publicly supported in the past, without explaining why they have changed their mind (South East Plan); or when a portfolio holder announces improvements to recycling only to be contradicted by the officers who are responsible for implementing the scheme; or when the portfolio holder can't explain the meaning of any of the pledges on social inclusion in her party's manifesto.

Take care

Dan xxx

Oh - and all the crap on Labour Oxford's site isn't spinning like a spinning thing about to spin itself apart? Or maybe blaming Jean for delaying" recycling when everyone down there knows that Labour's scheme provoked an awful lot of anxiety about the way it was going to be implemented (and especially enforced) and that what she is trying to do is make sure the implementation is properly managed so that it actually engages people rather than confusing them or pissing them off?

:)

You gotta try. The city council is widely seen as a compete basket case. So a little celebration of some good news/improvement doesn't seem too out of place.

When last was I actually anal enough to write about the city council anyway? Hardly ever.

"Mini budget" came from them... Oxford East Lib Dems (not me - or it would have been much longer...:)"

There again, I have the singular advantage of not having to write or be bound by party group press releases. Nobody asked me to write what I wrote and I am sure even Stephen can see a few points in there where my tongue is firmly dug into my cheek...:)

But on balance it's good stuff, if minor. And therefore worth mentioning when both you and the Greens seem to be taking every opportunity to demonstrate what you mean by constructive" opposition.

Quite why, I'm not sure. It would seem to me to be a better tactic to bide your time and then when you think you have a really bankable story to screw the whole thing up for us - which may or may not be one step easier by the end of July!"