IN LANCASTER CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT, local Conservatives believe in honesty and integrity in local government and in accountability to the local electorate. We oppose the policies of others when we believe them to be wrong, but we believe it is appropriate for local politicians to put aside purely partisan differences, and work together constructively wherever co-operation is possible in the interests of the whole district.

Local Conservatives do not endorse policies which pit the interests of Morecambe against those of Lancaster, or pit the interests of rural dwellers against those of urban dwellers. Not for us, the allocation of resources primarily to Morecambe, or primarily to Lancaster. Our policies are for the good of the whole district, and we have the collective will to implement them.

CONSERVATIVE RESOLUTIONS PASSED BY BUDGET COUNCIL MARCH 2009

• "That the £24,000 growth item to undertake a Parish Financial Arrangements Review be re-instated in 2009/10, the cost to be met by a corresponding reduction in the Arts and Leisure Development budget." (The purpose of this was to reinstate the Parish Review as previously approved by Council in December 2009.)
• That the budget allocated to the Civic Programme for 2009/10 for the Mayor to prioritise be reduced from £12,700 to £12,300 (instead of by £4,300 to £8,400 as was included in the Cabinet recommendations); and that the reduction be funded by contributing £3,900 from the General Fund unallocated reserve, shown in Appendix B, leaving a balance there at 31.3.2010 of £1,000,066 (The purpose of this was to reinstate most of the - about one third - disproportionately large reduction in the Mayoral budget that had been proposed in the Cabinet recommendations).

CONSERVATIVE MOTION ON NOTICE PASSED BY COUNCIL APRIL 2009

‘The decision to withdraw funding from the International Youth Games in 2009-10 was taken reluctantly by Cabinet last December, due to the severe constraints then affecting the City Council's budget. This decision was taken at an early stage in the 2009-10 budget process as Lancaster was to have been the host in 2009, and detailed plans needed to be finalised to send to our participating twin Cities.

There was no debate or discussion at the Budget Council meeting on 4 March on the decision to withdraw support from the International Youth Games in the years 2010-11 and 2011-12, and Council now affirms its long term commitment to the International Youth Games, and asks Cabinet in the forthcoming budget process to propose restoring funding for the years 2010-11 and 2011-12.’

(The purpose of this was to reinstate the commitment to supporting the International Youth Games - a commitment which had been dropped without debate in Cabinet or in Council as part of the "small print" in the budget documentation approved at the March Budget Council.)