On Monday 3 March, Shuguftah Quddoos, the former Sheriff of Nottingham, and elected councillor for Berridge Ward, announced her decision to join the Green Party, as her fight to save services in the city continues. Nottingham Green Party extended a warm welcome to Councillor Quddoos, and fully endorsed her call for the Council to do much more to prevent budget cuts impacting on the city’s most vulnerable residents.

A committed supporter of the campaign to save public services from cuts resulting from the Nottingham City Council budget, Shuguftah resigned from the Labour Party in November 2024 after being suspended for voting against the budget in March last year. Continuing to represent residents as an independent since then, the councillor today announced that she has joined the Green Party of England and Wales, recognising the Greens’ values of social justice, equity and community as those for which she has always advocated. In her statement (provided in full below), Shuguftah said, “To me, being Green is about caring for people and caring for the places that they live in. It’s recognising that saving public services and saving the planet are the same fight.”

During a rally on Monday afternoon, fittingly held at Nottingham’s iconic Robin Hood statue, Green Party deputy leader, Zack Polanski, enthusiastically welcomed Shuguftah to the party. Surrounded by local party members and supporters, Polanski, who is also an elected member of the London Assembly, said:

“I’m delighted to welcome Councillor Shuguftah Quddoos to the Green Party, the latest of a growing number of former Labour Party members. Shuguftah is a former Sherriff of Nottingham and knows only too well the high cost paid by our poorest communities from years of austerity imposed on them from the Conservative Government.

“We all hoped that Labour would usher in real change. It has utterly failed. That is why Shuguftah and so many other Labour councillors and Labour Party members have signed up to the Green Party.

“Together, we are offering people real hope and demonstrating that real change is possible. There is a choice between imposing drastic cuts on people’s services or raising a little more tax from the super rich to tackle inequality and help fund those services. Labour is actively choosing cuts. The Green Party wants the super rich to contribute their fair share to begin to reverse the burning inequalities in our country.”

Councillor Quddoos’s statement comes following her attendance at the Nottingham City Council’s budget planning meeting. Joining campaigners outside the Council House before the meeting, she then took her seat, seeking to put a stop to the proposed cuts and ensuring that the voices of vulnerable residents in Berridge and across Nottingham were represented during the discussions. Local democracy reporter, Joe Locker, covered the full breaking story, including the budget meeting, for Notts TV.

Co-chair of Nottingham Green Party, Ellie Jewson, speaking earlier, also endorsed Shuguftah’s commitment to continuing the campaign for a fair budget as a Green Party councillor. She said, “I’m really pleased to welcome Shuguftah to the Greens. Her dedication to representing her community with integrity and putting individuals before party politics is a breath of fresh air in today’s political landscape. It’s rare to find someone who is consistently striving for positive change, and her experience will be invaluable as we work together to create a fairer, greener Nottingham.”

As the party prepares to stand a full slate of candidates in the up-coming elections in Gedling and Rushcliffe, Shuguftah becomes the third sitting Green Party councillor in the greater Nottingham area, joining Councillors Richard Mallender and Sue Mallender who represent Lady Bay on Rushcliffe Borough Council.

Full statement from Councillor Shuguftah Quddoos

Today I am joining the Green Party and will sit as a Green councillor for the remaining two years of my term. This decision has come after a lot of reflection and countless conversations with the people who elected me. They, like me, feel that Labour has moved away from them, not the other way around.

I still stand for the principles I always have: dignity, justice and a good life for everyone. I will be able to serve my residents better in a party which holds these same values and that doesn’t sanction me for speaking up when it matters. As a Green I am free to use my vote to do what’s right for my residents. Their voice is my voice, their needs are my needs.

Nottingham has only ever had one Green councillor before me – John Peck, in Bulwell back in the 90s. He was a community man who knew the streets he represented like the back of his hand. In it for solutions, not status. That’s the kind of councillor I aspire to be.

I admit that once upon a time I thought the Greens were a single-issue environmental party and nothing more. What I’ve discovered is a party with a full range of sound policies like a new National Health and Social Care Service, replacing the broken model of council tax, and abolishing the two-child benefit cap – all things that would benefit Nottingham. Our city ranks 11th out of 317 districts in England for deprivation. Labour’s austerity 2.0 and performative cruelty aren’t the answer here, or anywhere.

Many people in my ward are living paycheck to paycheck, being squeezed by rising rents. First and foremost, our communities deserve the security of having their basic needs met, but they deserve more than that – to thrive not simply survive.

Cleaner streets, connecting to nature, breathable air and everyday beauty shouldn’t belong exclusively to the fortunate few who can afford to move out of the inner city. To me, being Green is about caring for people and caring for the places that they live in. It’s recognising that saving public services and saving the planet are the same fight.

I will continue to be a fierce defender of community centres, libraries, and local jobs in the face of this Labour council’s cuts. However, I don’t only want to be a voice of opposition. I want to be part of imagining new, better things for Berridge ward and this city. That includes supporting CN28. The Green Party’s spirit of collaboration will allow me to do that alongside vital grassroots organisations like Resolve Notts, the Pythian Club, Heya Nottingham and more.

People want alternatives. Having real choices and space for real criticism is part of any healthy democracy. And in the home of Robin Hood, it’s only fitting to have a splash of Green.

The post A New Splash of Green for Nottingham! appeared first on Nottingham Green Party.

As each new announcement in the local press confirms, Nottingham residents and service users continue to bear the brunt of the Labour-controlled city council’s failure to balance the budget. Nottingham Green Party opposes the cuts and instead calls for a fair settlement that meets the needs of the city, and puts our most vulnerable communities first.

Council tax bills are set to increase by almost 5% this year. Libraries face closure or reduced operating hours. From Sneinton to Sherwood and across the city, community centres are being asked to find their own funding for much-needed repairs or risk reducing essential services. To top this off, at the end of January national broadcaster Channel Four reported on the threat to supported accommodation, leaving residents at city housing facilities operated by Framework Housing Association feeling scared and vulnerable.

The Labour council’s approach is only to point out that things could have been worse. As quoted by The Nottingham Post, the council leader indicates that the predicted budget gap could have been much higher than the current prediction of £56 million. We believe could have been worse is nowhere near good enough. The city deserves a council that puts the city and its residents first, and we urge the council to work closely with the regional mayor and with government to release the funding required to put things right. The Green Party supports a wealth tax that would rebalance society by using the profits of billionaires to meet communities’ basic needs.

This is why we have consistently campaigned against the cuts, called for a balanced budget, and continue to stand up for services in the city. During 2024, Green Party members from across the city joined with fellow campaigners, trades unions, and the one city councillor who has shown the courage to stand up for local residents at talks, events, and public demonstrations demanding an end to the cuts.

Nottingham Green Party Against the Cuts

In December, we spoke out in support at a public meeting with community centre users and service providers, and in January, we lobbied councillors before meetings deciding the fates of libraries and community centres. Our members have submitted citizens’ questions to the next full meeting of the council, and we expect answers, just as every councillor’s constituents demand more and better from their elected officials.

In February, local Green Party member Cath Sutherland wrote a detailed and empassioned letter to the Nottingham Post. In her letter, which we post in full below, Cath points out that “cuts to vital services are happening under a Labour government, with a new Labour Regional Mayor, and a Labour City Council.” This is why our campaign continues – because, as Greens, we are passionate about social justice and supporting all those in the city seeking the services they need to make their lives liveable.

We are welcoming new Green Party members every week and building the base we need to get Greens elected, whether in the forthcoming elections to the county council in Gedling and Rushcliffe, or in 2027, when we aim to hold the current Labour administration to account and give Nottingham the city council it deserves.

What Can I Do to Stand Up for Nottingham’s Services?

• Read Cath’s letter below
• Follow what’s happening in the local press and online media (Nottinghamshire Live/The Nottingham Post, Notts TV and West Bridgford Wire) and on local radio and television
• Watch Darshna Soni’s Channel Four report on the impact on supported housing residents
• Contact your concillors and MPs by writing to them and letting them know your concerns
• Lobby the next council meeting – from 4pm on 3rd March 2025 at the Old Market Square entrance
• Submit a Citizen’s Question to be asked at the next council meeting
• Join the Green Party and become part of the movement for Real Hope, Real Change
• Make a donation. Every donation, however small, helps build momentum to get Greens elected

Letter to Nottingham Post 1^st February 2025

by Cath Sutherland, Nottingham Green Party

Congratulations to Oliver Pridmore and everyone at Nottingham Post who have been running the ‘Protect Nottingham Community Centres’ campaign, and publicising the terrible losses for our city communities.

I was saddened to read on Friday that Rise Park Community Centre is going to be demolished and not replaced; and very shocked to read earlier in the week about the probable closure of two Framework residential facilities for homeless people, where many people are helped to rehabilitate themselves and get a new start at life.

It hardly needs to be said how these cuts hurt the most vulnerable, and many members of our communities who need a bit of support, as well as people who depend on their weekly outing to a community centre for a much-needed bit of company.

Margaret Thatcher said “There is no such thing as society”. Her vision was of everyone going to work, then going home and spending their money, and not needing or wanting anything else from other people in their area. But human beings are sociable animals. We need the company of other people, as well as help from others at certain stages of life, and the opportunity to get together to tackle problems together. Community centres play a vital role in enabling these things to happen.

On Monday evening I lobbied the Council outside Nottingham Council House as part of ‘Save Our Services 24’, and then I went into the Council House to observe a few minutes of the full council meeting.

I was shocked that no councillors expressed outrage or sadness or horror at the position they have been put in by the government, of having to cut so many desperately needed services for so many people in Nottingham. In fact the opposite – they made positive congratulatory announcements about very small increases in some of the funding streams the government have awarded, tiny increases that don’t begin to correct the huge cuts we have faced over the last 10 years. The councillors praised the government for these tiny increases, and took the opportunity to bash the Tories in the way that we have heard so much of in the last 7 months that it is becoming extremely repetitive. We already know the Tories messed up. The question is “How is Labour going to put things right?”.

The Labour government had a budget in October. That was the opportunity to put back the funds into cities like Nottingham that have a high need for council services but are suffering continuing austerity. It can’t really be denied that this is continuing austerity in Nottingham, under a Labour government, as social care packages are cut, community centres and libraries are cut, council housing is sold off and maybe even centres for the homeless are cut.

The councillors on Monday night appeared to me to be more loyal to their political party, their tribe, than they are to the people of Nottingham. If they weren’t putting their party first then why didn’t they criticise the government for not allocating more desperately needed funds for our local services, and why didn’t they demand more emergency government funding?

The cuts to vital services are happening under a Labour government, with a new Labour Regional Mayor, and a Labour City Council.

The fact that a Labour government is continuing this austerity is because they have boxed themselves in with some stupid commitments and policies. Why did they rule out a wealth tax? Why don’t they put more windfall taxes on the oil companies? Why do they continue to insist that the only way out of austerity is to be a doormat for big business in the hope that big business will make the economy grow? The new government has set out on this course of being subservient to the demands of multinationals, and that won’t change now.

Many economists think that cutting public spending is no way to achieve growth, that investing in big infrastructure projects will be more successful. Numerous economists also say that growth will never be achieved unless the very rich are taxed more heavily, and policies are put in place to stop the top 1% siphoning £billions off the economy and putting the money in tax havens. The extra money will never be there to improve local services.

Anyone who had the pleasure of hearing the economist Gary Stephenson talking at The Nottingham Playhouse on Monday night (27^th January) will remember him saying that public services will never be properly financed until the government puts more taxes on the rich, which this government isn’t doing. He said “The fire-brigade isn’t coming, it isn’t coming”. It isn’t coming to Nottingham.

So under this Labour government we can expect Nottingham to continue to suffer this miserable austerity. The least our local councillors could do is call the government out.

The post Stand up for our services! Nottingham Green Party campaigns to stop the cuts appeared first on Nottingham Green Party.

By leading the campaign on bus fares across the East Midlands, and supporting campaigns on saving the city’s services, meaningful carbon reduction, and ending the war in the Middle East, together Nottingham Greens are supporting real solutions to diverse problems and calling for our elected representatives to step up.

As we continue to engage with community concerns, support is growing for the Green Party’s agenda of Real Hope, Real Change. Zack Polanski, Deputy Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, said at this year’s party conference: “The people of this country are writing this story with us. Writing it in our community halls, on doorsteps, at the bus stops. Let’s keep rewriting it until everyone is included and everyone is empowered. Engagement is not just at election time, but all year round.”

You can read more about our winter community campaigns below.

Keep the Bus Fare Cap!

Following the Labour government’s 2024 Autumn Budget decision to increase the cap on single trip bus fares by 50%, we have launched a petition urging Clare Ward, East Midlands Mayor, to use her powers and make funding available to retain the cap at the current rate of £2. This decision would bring us in line with commitments made by her counterparts in Liverpool and Manchester. Raising the cap would seriously impact the weekly budgets of thousands of transport users in the city and the wider region while increasing car use.

Photo: Adam McGregor

Ben Gray, Co-Chair of East Midlands Green Party, chose to highlight this issue in his recent interview on Politics East Midlands, saying: “We should be investing in public transport and not punishing those who choose to use it. In Nottingham we have twice the number of people than the national average who rely on buses for work”.

You can sign the petition here.

Libraries for Nottingham’s Communities

Libraries have been an important part of our communities for over 100 years. They give everyone, no matter how poor, the opportunity to read, use computers, finish their homework and much more besides. Nottingham Green Party Treasurer Cath Sutherland said: “As a result of cuts to funding by the last Conservative government, Nottingham City Council lost over £1 billion of its allocated funding in recent years, and is looking at closing some libraries and cutting the hours of others right down. The Labour government is continuing this austerity, giving only a tiny increase in funding to local government in its first budget, instead of taxing the wealthy, especially the assets of the wealthy, to provide funding for basic services in our communities.”

Photo: With Permission

Nottingham Green Party has urged our supporters to respond to the public consultation on libraries in Nottinghamshire, and in our city we have been actively supporting the ‘Save Our Services 24’ campaign and its call for Labour-run Nottingham City Council to fight for more funding for our city. The consequences of continuing austerity that targets the poorest in our communities will be devastating, affecting not only libraries but community centres and other vital services that many rely on.

You can read more about Save Our Services 24 here.

Yes we CAN!

Once again the annual COP meeting is taking place. This will be the 29th meeting of the supreme governing body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and now more than ever it is important that commitments made are followed through, rather than become more empty sound bites. With tipping points critical and climate catastrophe imminent, now is the time to hold the government to account on actions that reduce our reliance on carbon and promote biodiversity. The Climate and Nature (CAN) Bill, which will progress through Parliament this winter, will ensure the UK meets emissions targets.

Many of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire’s elected MPs have yet to pledge their support for the CAN Bill. We urge them to show clear and public support for this vital legislation, and not defer to existing laws that continue to put profit before people and the planet.

You can find out more at the Zero Hour campaign website, including following their helpful guide to writing to your MP and urging them to support the CAN Bill. As António Gutteres, United Nations Secretary General, said at the COP meeting on 12 November, 2024: “Climate action is not optional, it’s imperative”.

Support for Palestine

The news coming from Gaza is heartbreaking and gets worse every day. Now we hear of a similar loss of civilian lives from Lebanon too. Nottingham Green Party members have been joining demonstrations, rallies and other activities that have been organised every week in Nottingham in protest of the continuing war and genocide.

Photo: Cath Sutherland

We have been informing our members and supporters of upcoming events that they can attend in support of the cause, from fundraisers to Palestinian Culture Day, and we encourage everyone to continue to demand more action to save the lives of Palestinian and Lebanese people. This country’s complicity in the war is not in our name, and the killing of innocent civilians, many of them children, must end.

Join us and help our efforts

Our winter campaigns build on the concerns of people across Nottingham, Gedling and Rushcliffe. Our members and supporters are the cornerstone of the Green Party’s determination to be the real change we want to see.

As the year ends, we are looking ahead to the Nottinghamshire County Council elections on 1 May 2025, where we will be growing the vote for hope and working together to empower our communities.

Let’s build a fairer, greener Nottingham and a better world together!

You can join the Green Party here and donate here.

The post Keep the Bus Fare Cap! Nottingham Greens campaigning in the community appeared first on Nottingham Green Party.

On Saturday 13 June, Nottingham Green Party hosted the East Midlands Regional Conference at the Queen’s Walk Community Centre in The Meadows. This was an opportunity to welcome over 80 of our fellow members from around the region, celebrate our four new MPs and other successes over the year, and think together about how we can build further on this base. It was especially exciting to see lots of new members coming along, reflecting the party’s growing membership base nationally and here in the East Midlands.

The day began with an overview from the new co-chairs, Frank Adlington-Stringer and Ben Gray, who thanked the outgoing committee, as well as the conference organisers, and laid out their plans for the coming year. This was followed by break-out sessions, with those attending choosing from a fun Green Bingo session, a welcome meeting dedicated to New Members, and a Local Party Coordinators Meeting. Then we heard from the region’s Field Coordinator, Laurie Needham, who led an insightful review of the General Election. After a very tasty lunch, there were talks about Solar Farms from the perspectives of two different stakeholders, and a look back at our outstanding regional performances in the recent Mayoral and PCC elections. The concluding speaker, Zack Polanski, the Deputy Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, took the stage to thank all members for their commitment, reflect on the recent election campaign and lay out strategies for growing our membership and support through engaged community action, especially now there are four MPs with a profile to put our ideas forward in the media. Those staying on after the conference enjoyed some more informal discussion and brainstorming in the nearby Vat and Fiddle. 

Overall, the day was a very fitting way to mark the recent electoral successes, a friendly and relaxed way for members all across the region to get to know each other, and a great chance to share our ideas and build the platform for a politics of real hope and real change!

The post Green Party East Midlands conference – Nottingham 2024 appeared first on Nottingham Green Party.

Whatever mistakes the city council has made – and there have been some serious ones – it cannot be blamed for going ‘bankrupt’ – being unable to set a balanced budget for 2024/2025. The amount of funding coming from central government to Nottingham City Council has been cut by £100m per year for the last 10 years – a much higher percentage rate of cuts that for most councils . The council has legal responsibility to provide social care for Nottingham citizens who qualify for it, children’s social care, and services for homeless people. The cost of these three areas of service have rocketed in recent years.  So the government have placed the city council in an impossible position financially, and then sent in a Commissioner to take over the running of the council in place of our democratically elected councillors. 

The Labour Party has already said that if elected to government it will not increase funding for local government. So the miserable future for council services in Nottingham is set to continue after 4^th July.

Trade unions and others in Nottingham have set up a campaign to ‘Save Our Services’. They have been holding meetings in the Nottingham communities, and rallies, to build opposition to the cuts and publicise them, and try to work with other councils to campaign for better funding for local government. Nottingham Green Party supports ‘Save Our Services’.

The council is going to cut some much loved services such as the Jackdawe homecare service for adults with complex and challenging behaviours – redundancy notices have reportedly already been issued for the workers in this service. Three residential homes are likely to be sold off. The Playhouse Theatre will have its annual support from the council of over £400,000 cut to £0. Four libraries are likely to be closed – Aspley, Basford, Bilborough and Radford/Lenton. Youth services will probably be further cut after years of underfunding. Hundreds of city council workers are likely to be made redundant. The list goes on and on. 

A recent in-depth investigation into the city council’s financial management by the accountancy firm Ernst & Young concluded that there were serious faults with the financial control environment, financial systems and culture. 

One of the underlying causes of this is that the Labour Party has 50 of the 55 seats on the council, so it has very little opposition to hold the Labour councillors to account or question their decisions. We need Green Party councillors who can challenge the Labour Party approach to running the council, while supporting the provision of strong effective services. 

The Green Party is committed to increasing funding for local authorities, and changing the way they are resourced to give more local independence. We would introduce Land Value Tax so that those with the most valuable and largest land holdings would contribute the most to their local area.

The post Save Our Services appeared first on Nottingham Green Party.

My contribution was published in part, with the rest of my statement as follows:

“What I see as a huge problem with s106 money is the length of time between when the sums are calculated, and when they are eventually spent. This is especially problematic as we’ve just gone through a period of high inflation. 

For example £500,000 pounds for a community hub in 2014 that is delivered in 2024 would only now be worth the equivalent of £375,000 in today’s money. Which would be bad enough, but you also need to factor in the uplift in property values. The same £500,000 community hub from 2014 would now cost you £766,000 to construct. Because of a ten year delay the community will now have to make do with something that is half as good as they were promised. Ten years isn’t unusual, or even particularly long in planning terms. After twenty years what has grandly been called a community centre might well be delivered as barely more than a scout hut.

In the same period these same factors work the other way in favour for the developers who are building and selling houses that are worth more and more for each year they delay.

It seems in law that planners can link sums payable to inflation, but this isn’t something that we see regularly, and it’s communities who are missing out.”

If you have any comments or want to discuss subjects such as s106 you can contact me on chair@nottingham.greenparty.org.uk

The post Councils yet to spend £93 million in S106 housing developer contributions appeared first on Nottingham Green Party.

A section 114 notice means that the council will be restricted in its spending and cuts are inevitable. The rich won’t suffer much, but others will.

Council Leader, David Mellen, blames the Tory government, and up to a point he is right. Over the last 13 years the Conservatives have cut £100 million from Nottingham’s annual budget, at a time when the cost of meeting responsibilities is rising. The council is legally responsible for the social care of adults and children. The number of people needing such care has risen significantly. So has the cost of providing it, and yet the Tory government continues to pile on cuts to local councils. 

The government cuts are so deep and so widespread that one in five councils in England think they will be in a similar situation to Nottingham within the next year.

Times are tough and are going to get tougher. We are short of money. When you are strapped for cash, you need to be careful. You need to be careful what you spend your money on, and you need to be careful to keep good accounts.

Our Labour council has not been careful as to what it has spent its money on, (even David Mellen acknowledges there have been mistakes) and they have not kept good accounts.

Robin Hood energy failed, costing the City millions. The Broadmarsh is partially demolished, with no funding to replace it, and the closure of the Castle happened on the Labour Watch.

When it was discovered that over £40 million had been transferred illegally within the council, Ernst and Young were commissioned to review the Council’s books. Despite calls from all sides for transparency, the council said that it would only provide a summary as “it might impact on further activity”. Such as what? You might ask.

Even the summary is damning. The financial management of the Council was found to be “not fit for purpose”. Ernst and Young uncovered a “work culture that was not properly following accounting rules”. They were also concerned about the council’s inability to find documents.

We still do not know what is in the full report, and we join others in calling for its publication.

The council has spent carelessly and been careless in its keeping of accounts.

The Government is principally to blame for the “bankruptcy” of our Council, but the Labour controlled council has made matters worse. 

Remember that this is a council of 55 seats, 51 of which are held by Labour. Before that they held 50. Democracy works best when there is a strong opposition to hold the governing party to account. The Labour Council have not been held to account. They should be. 

The Tory Government should be held to account at the next election.

As a Nottingham Green Party we will be fighting to make sure there is an effective opposition in the Nottingham City Council chamber, this city deserves better

The post Green Party Reaction to the Nottingham City Council Section 114 Notice appeared first on Nottingham Green Party.

Nottingham is a cultural and historical treasure of the UK. It needs a socially, economically and environmentally responsible council to let it thrive the way it deserves.

This is why the Green Party of Nottingham are pledging to implement a policy plan that understands the health of a city relies on the health of its communities, economies and environments.

For too long the Labour council have mismanaged the city’s finances, resulting in closures and reduction of essential cultural, social, health and environmental services. We need Green voices on the council to hold Labour to account; to build back the city into a thriving, bustling centre of prosperity and possibility. We will fight for devolved democratic power for citizens. We will fight for strong and compassionate solutions to solve the social housing crisis. We will fight for the integration of environmental policy into every decision the council makes.

We will fight for a happy, healthy Nottingham.

Vote Green on May 4th.

Click here to download a full copy of our manifesto

The post Nottingham local elections 2023 manifesto: Our plan for the city appeared first on Nottingham Green Party.

If you have any questions or comments for our candidates or the Nottingham Green Party, please get in touch by emailing contact@nottingham.greenparty.org.uk.

gedling

rushcliffe

City of nottingham

The post 4th May 2023 local elections: candidates announced appeared first on Nottingham Green Party.

With bankruptcy staring it in the face, Nottingham City Council has had to accept the government dominating its every decision and dictating to it, as it approved its ‘Recovery and Improvement Plan’ on 25th January.

Our city council is no longer really in control of the running of its services, following government intervention to make it implement wide spread cuts, totalling £15.6m and efficiency-savings, including the loss of 272 full-time jobs, and sell £100m of council assets.

This intervention was needed because, following the failure of the council’s Robin Hood Energy company, at a loss of at least £38m to the council, Nottingham City Council could not set a budget for 2021/2022 that balanced. The council leader, David Mellen, has accepted responsibility.

This is a mess and financial disaster for our city. The council has been incompetent. The council nearly went bankrupt, which would have meant services being stripped to the bone, and thousands of job losses.

How did this happen? One reason is that the Labour Party has had the overwhelming majority of the seats on Nottingham City Council, 50 out of a total of 55, and therefore hasn’t had a good opposition to hold it to account. Maybe it became over-confident? More councillors from other political parties such as the Green Party would probably have forced the Labour council to make its decisions more carefully.

Following the extensive intervention of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which is now “in partnership” with the council, an external ‘Improvement and Assurance Board’ has been set up to oversee the council’s reforms, with external members appointed by the Secretary of State, Robert Jenrick. All this was introduced following a damning external auditor’s report in August 2020 after the failure of Robin Hood Energy. The external investigations found many inefficiencies in the way our Nottingham services are run.

The council had to submit a 3-year recovery plan to plug the £53-64m hole in its budget by 2023/24.

All these cuts and efficiency savings are going to mean a reduction in the services that the council can offer its citizens, for several years. And this follows 10 years in which the Tory government has cut funding of the council by £271m, forcing the council to make cuts. The council has also spent £28.4m on dealing with the Covid19 crisis, which has not yet been reimbursed.

This is a sad state of affairs for Nottingham. Not only is it humiliating, but we will all get less services from the council, and we will lose lots of buildings which were owned by all the citizens of Nottingham because the council owned them. Many of these buildings are used by community groups, small enterprises, organisations helping the community. They were also there to be used in the future if needed for the public good. Now they will probably become privately owned flats or offices.

The decision to set up Robin Hood Energy was done with the best of intentions, in order to be able to offer lower energy prices to its citizens. But going into the energy market, especially the ‘energy delivery’ section of the market, was risky, and the question has to be asked “How good was the advice that they took?”. Nottingham City Council invested £43m into Robin Hood Energy, with a further £16m of guarantees, and had to write off £24m of Robin Hood Energy debts. The other energy company set up by a council, in Bristol, has also collapsed.

Now the most important thing is that the cuts and policies imposed by the government on Nottingham do not damage our vital services to the people who depend on them, such as older people, families in need of housing or other support, children’s services, people who need social care at home, and people who rely on public transport.

The Green Party believes in strong well-funded local government. We believe that more power should be devolved to local councils, and councils should be able to raise more of their budget from local taxes, rather than it coming via the government.

Even before the government set up an external ‘Improvement and Assurance Board’ to control our city council, the government has been taking control of services away from local councils, taking the power back to London, and cutting the finance available.

Council incompetence and government austerity cuts – the losers are the people of Nottingham.

If you have any thoughts on the above piece, or you’d like to write for our website, send us an email: contact@nottingham.greenparty.org.uk.

Sign up to our mailing list for future updates from the Nottingham Green Party.

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