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Wage bill to spiral by £25million

The net cost of salaries will actually remain virtually unchanged.

£14million was spent on traders: ground maintenance, cleaning, catering, fleet management, as are provided through Suffolk Trading Services. This is a business, and the £14million is recouped in income, so is cost neutral.
£2million was spent on Children's Centre staff: paid for by a direct grant from the government.
£2million is the second instalment of our investment in social workers and other staff, to help with safeguarding children and older people. This was one of our key priorities in our 2009 election manifesto.
£1million spent on pay movement: although we are freezing staff pay this year, there is additional money in the budget to cover contractual increases established last year.
£5million allocated in case of the need for additional temporary staff: we cannot know from one year to the next how much these staff will cost, and though money has been allocated, it will probably not be neeeded.

We are recruiting 500 new staff

1. 120 of these are extra social workers.
2. 80 are 'traders': meeting new business needs and so earning extra income for the council.
3. 180 are Children's Centre staff, paid for by central government.
4. The remainder are new frontline staff in Adult Care Services and further increases in frontline staff in our Environment & Transport and Public Protection teams

What about the reported 128% increase in 'bureaucrats' in adult care?

All that has happened is that about 60 staff have been reclassified as service office staff as opposed to frontline staff, while the numbers of frontline staff have increased

The Conservative administration is currently rated as the second most cost efficient County Council in the country. This is because we have worked tirelessly to cut out waste and bureacracy, and provide the strong financial management that the people of Suffolk expect.

What about the £40million (£56million is sometimes quoted) cuts to Adult Care?

1. To be clear: there have been NO cuts to our adult social care budget. On the contrary, this Conservative administration has increased the annual budget for adult social care by over £20million since 2005.
2. But there is a nationwide challenge of how we look after our ageing population. The money given to us each year by the government has failed to keep pace with inflation or the rise in demand for our care services. As a result, we have had to look for ways to make the money we do have go a lot further. As a result we have found ways of saving £40 million over the last four years.

Even so, you are now charging the most vulnerable for their care service.

1. All across the country, councils are asking those who can afford to pay, to contribute towards the care services they receive. This policy was framed by Labour government legislation. Labour minister, Ivan Lewis, said "Surely no-one expects social care in the 21st century to be anything other than means-tested."
2. Given the shortage of available money, and our responsibility to the people of Suffolk to keep council tax increases down, we have started asking people who can afford to, to contribute to care services, as they do nearly everywhere else in the country.
3. But only 16% of people pay the full cost (usually the amount quoted in opposition literature). They do so because they have savings at or above £23,000. Another 52% pay a contribution towards the costs. Those that cannot afford to, about 32%, continue to pay nothing.
4. It is only right that, given how tight money is, we work as efficiently as possible and make the money we have go further.

But you are closing day centres.

1. No Suffolk County Council owned day centres will be closed in the foreseeable future.
2. Even beyond the foreseeable future, we have given an undertaking that we will not close any service unless an alternative is first provided which is agreed with users and their families, and which offers an equivalent or more appropriate service.

What about the big increase in the pay bill for top earners?

1. This is extremely misleading. The salary threshold above which we have to declare numbers of staff (and defined by Lib Dems as top earners) is set nationally at £50,000. This threshold of £50,000 has not changed for many years, failing to recognise the increases in RPI over these years.
2. Naturally, over time, a number of existing staff will see their salaries rise above this level with their annual cost of living increases, set nationally, not by us. So, with inflation, the number of staff receiving £50,000 or more a year goes up. The Lib Dems then make an arbitrary judgement as to the cost of all these people?s salaries, and then refer to it as an increase in the pay bill for top earners. NB Of this number, 60% relates to the annual increases for teachers and other school staff.
3. If the Lib Dems and Labour are so concerned about the growth in the number of SCC employees earning over £50,000, then why did they allow a three-fold increase during their last four years in charge?

But you are abolishing our Middle Schools

1. We are committed to providing the best possible education for Suffolk?s children. All evidence shows that cutting down the number of times a child changes school helps them achieve better exam results. As a result, two-tier education consistently performs better than the three tier system. This is why the middle schools have virtually died out across the country.
2. Both the Lib Dems and Labour had councillors on the working group that recommended a move to a two-tier structure, and these Lib Dem and Labour councillors wholeheartedly supported the proposal.


3. Nearly all middle schools are now working with us to make the change a successful one.
4. By taking this course, not only will this enable us to attract a higher number of top-quality teachers into the county, but crucially, we have opened the door to £750million of funding to re-build and refurbish secondary schools in the county. If the Lib Dems tried to abandon the project, they would put this money at risk.

Conservatives Hold Suffolk County Council

In the County Council elections held on 4th June 2009, Suffolk Conservatives won 55 of the 75 council seats securing an overwhelming majority on the County Council, and a second four year term. Council leader Jeremy Pembroke expressed his delight at the result.

"This is a great result. We have made tough and difficult decisions over the last four years, but the people of Suffolk have spoken at the ballot box and shown their support. The result is a vote of confidence in what the Conservative administration has achieved over the last four years."

He added that there was much to celebrate. "However people across Suffolk are facing difficult and uncertain economic times. We have a duty to look after the most vulnerable in our communities, whether they be children or adults, and to guide the county through the recession, and that is what we must now concentrate on doing.?

Conservatives	55
Liberal Democrat	11
Green	2
Independent	2
Labour & Cooperative	2
Labour	2
UK Independence Party	1

Election Map [...]
Full Election Results [...]

A Record of Action, A Promise of More - Jeremy Pembroke, Leader of Suffolk County Council

The elections on 4th June will be, in many ways, the most important in Suffolk's recent history.

In 2005 we asked you to vote Conservative for a 'Better Way for Suffolk'. We knew you wanted a County Council that gave you value-for-money. Providing the top-quality services you want and need at a price we can all afford.

Over the last four years we have done just that - providing more services to more people than ever before, while, crucially, keeping council tax down.

However, the work has only just begun. We now face a very different economic climate. Having taken the difficult decisions, we have, in four years, laid the foundations for the next forty - preparing Suffolk for the difficult economic times that lie ahead.

This election is important because it will allow us to bring our long-term reforms to fruition, to deliver the results of the transformation we have undertaken; results that will help lead Suffolk out of recession.

In 2005, the new Conservative-run council saw there would be difficult times ahead. And so we started to prepare. We restructured our services - restoring strong financial management to the County Council, saving £60million by working much more efficiently. In the process, we have turned Suffolk into the most cost-efficient County Council in England . ready and equipped to deliver the services we all want during the challenging times ahead.

We will continue to seek out more effective and efficient ways of providing services. And, we will continue to keep council tax down.

We said in 2005 that protecting the most vulnerable would be paramount, indeed, it is our moral duty so to do.

Over four years, we have transformed the way we provide social care to vulnerable adults . a much more efficient, adaptable and responsive service geared to help older people get the care they need more quickly, tailored to their requirements. We are now investing an additional £5million into safeguarding vulnerable children and adults, and will always maintain our commitment to those who need us most.

Our plans for new, state-of-the-art residential homes, along with Homeshield Plus and individual budgets, will, over the next four years, take this work on to the next stage.

We also said we would give our children and young people the best services and support we can. The Children's University, together with the new Children.s Centres, will give young families vital early help. Our plans for the county.s schools, already well underway, will help bring up to £750million into Suffolk to build new secondary schools and refurbish existing ones across the county.

Over the next four years, our plans for a Suffolk Apprenticeship Scheme and new schools, together with completion of work on University Campuses in Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds to supplement the one in Ipswich, will transform the educational landscape, and give Suffolk the skills to drive the economy out of recession.

Our drive to make Suffolk the Greenest County has seen remarkable achievements in recycling, as well as many innovations. We will continue working to reduce the county.s carbon footprint, and investing in the innovations that will ensure a greener future.

Above all, we will help lead Suffolk out of recession. Working together with our Conservative-led district and borough councils, and the many other organisations across the county, we are making the investment in people, in businesses, in Suffolk.

My passion is to help people across Suffolk achieve their full potential, to give people the best start, to protect the most vulnerable and to deliver the value-for-money services that we all want and need. In the last four years we have laid the path to a better way for Suffolk.

Over the next four, it is the Conservatives who will Take Suffolk Forward.

Suffolk Conservatives deliver all-time low Council Tax increase

For the second successive year, Conservative run Suffolk County Council has delivered an all time low increase in Council Tax.
More [...]

Suffolk sees launch of Homeshield Plus: helping protect vulnerable people

A new scheme has been launched tp help vulnerable people in Suffolk feel safe and secure in their homes. [...]

Education in Lowestoft Receives Big Boost

The future of education in Lowestoft has received a huge boost with the announcement that the Learning and Skills Council have given the go ahead to a 23million investment in the proposed 6th Form College in Lowestoft. [...]

Campaign against plans for Ipswich Hospital Gains Momentum

Conservative County Councillor Graham Newman has joined the fight to keep vital heart and pancreatic cancer services at Ipswich Hospital.

Following reports that the regional Strategic Health Authority was planning to take away the hospitals capacity to treat all but the most minor heart attacks, Councillor Newman has written to the Director of Commissioning at the Health Authority expressing his deep unease at the proposals. [...]

Taking Suffolk Forward - Suffolk Conservatives Plan for Four More Years

Suffolk Conservatives have launched their manifesto for the County Council elections on 4th June, proclaiming - a record of action and a promise of more.

The document - Taking Suffolk Forward - outlines the Conservative's far-reaching plans for Suffolk, to build on the achievements of their first four years. [...]

Suffolk Sets Lowest Ever Increase In Council Tax at 2.45%

This new increase in council tax is less than half the increase in pensions, due in April 2009 (5%), and below the most recent rate of inflation (3.1% using the government?s preferred CPI). It compares with an estimated national average increase of 3.5%. [...]

Freeze On Care Charges Will Help The Most Vulnerable

Suffolk County Council yesterday (10 March) took the timely step of placing a price freeze on non-residential care charges across Suffolk. The announcement, made by Cllr Graham Newman at the meeting of the County Council's Cabinet, is set to benefit the most vulnerable local residents. [...]

Government Watchdog Awards Top Marks To Suffolk

Good news for local people today as the key government watchdog, The Audit Commission, awarded Suffolk County Council the top score of 4 stars for the fourth year running confirming that the Council continues to provide top rated local services at excellent value for money. [...]

Environment Action Plan Gets off To a Flying Start

In March 2009 Suffolk County Council reported on the first year of its Environment Action Plan aimed at making Suffolk the greenest county. Highlights in the report included the completion of OrbisEnergy, the continued installation of woodchip boilers in our buildings, securing substantial funding for our initiatives, 153 schools registered with the the Eco-Schools Programme and the first year of the council's green heroes scheme [...]

Practical Help For Repossession Hit Homeowners

Jeremy Pembroke has welcomed the new Repossession Advice Pack issued today by the Conservative Party, calling it "Simple, practical help for homeowners hit by the recession". On the day it was announced that the number of homes being repossessed last year had increased by 54% on 2007, the Conservatives have issued a practical advice pack for anyone concerned about losing their home during the recession. [...]