THURROCK Conservatives have made a withering attack on Labour’s beleaguered portfolio holder for adult social care, cllr Tony Fish.
Councillor Fish put on another “embarrassing” performance at last nights cabinet meeting where it appeared to many that he did not have total understanding of his brief.
To compound matters, after reading out the proposals and savings, portfolio holder for childrens’ services, cllr Diana Hale intervened and proposed alternative cuts apparently based on the concerns from elderly residents in Stifford Clays.
Councillor Fish was quizzed on several issues by Conservative councillors’ Joy Redsell and James Halden. Both councillors looked exasperated as time after time, he claimed these were operational matters and deferred to council officer, Lorna Payne.
After the meeting, councillor Halden said: “Councillor Fish deferring to officers has, alas, been something I have been used to on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
“We are delighted that cllr Hale intervened to take on Conservative proposals regarding eligibility criteria and many other matters.
“If it wasn’t for the pressure from our shadow portfolio holder cllr Amanda Arnold, Wendy Herd and myself, the efficiency savings would have been a great deal more savage.”
Others have criticised cllr Fish for reeling out a number of statistics that showed that Thurrock spent much less per head than many other regions.
An industry expert, that did not wish to be named said: “I don’t think it was the time or the place to start boasting that Thurrock spends less on the vulnerable than many other areas in the country.”
