Labour and Greens in row over Brighton budget black hole

Figures uncovered by the new Labour council in Brighton and Hove found that the previous Green-led administration had overspent the city’s budget by more than £3 million.

Labour councillors are so concerned by the overspending they are calling for external auditors to investigate decisions made by the Green council.

Lloyd Russell-Moyle, MP for Brighton Kemptown, said he was “deeply worried” by the overspending.

He said: “We’ve called in auditors to investigate how this happened and ensure our city is not led into the hands of Tory party administrators.”

However, in a tweet responding to the MP, Green group leader on Brighton and Hove City Council, Cllr Steve Davis said: “I really would expect better from you.

“The last administration was a minority and Labour were involved in the process every step of the way up to voting for it.

“It’s so disappointing to see you defend 13 years of Tory austerity like this.”

Other Labour councillors also weighed in on the scale of the budget black hole on Twitter.

Cllr David McGregor, deputy chairman of the council’s culture, heritage, sport, tourism and economic development committee, said: “The Green administration chose to ignore expert advice and spend more than the council could afford - a legacy of mismanagement and terrible decision-making.”

Chairman of the council’s adult social care and public health sub-committee Cllr Tristram Burden described the black hole in the city's finance as a “damning legacy of mismanagement from the previous administration.

The council’s finance lead and deputy leader Cllr Jacob Taylor has warned that “awful financial decisions” made by the Green Party would mean that Labour will be forced to “make savings in almost every area of council spending”.

Cllr Taylor said: “We don’t know exactly where or how yet, but we will keep residents informed and listen to their views in order to help us do all we humanly can to keep Brighton and Hove the safe and fair city we promised.”

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Deputy leader of the Green group Cllr Sue Shanks described Labour’s announcement as “political theatre”.

She said: “The Greens ran a minority administration, meaning that every decision was scrutinised by other parties, and depended on their votes to pass.

“Labour know full well that they are going to make budget cuts next year. The purpose of this move is to lay the groundwork to blame the Greens for that rather than the Tories.

“It is yet another example of Labour’s opportunism that they are looking to blame a left-wing, progressive party rather than the Tory austerity that slashed our budget by more than £110 million in annual government funding since 2010.”

The overspend was confirmed by the council’s Targeted Budget Monitoring Report and is shortly to be presented to the strategy, finance and city regeneration committee.