Over the past week there has been some confusion as to exactly what Cameron’s plans for the economy are. If the Tories win the next election would there be an emergency budget to identifyimmediate public spending cuts or has Cameron come round to the idea that immediate cuts would damage the recovering economy? The confusion over spending plans goes far beyond the central party, Tory run councils seem no clearer on their priorities…

North Somerset Council is looking to make savings; they have discussed commissioning service providers to run the Playhouse, tourist information services and leisure centres. It has been announced that plans for a flagship residential home for those suffering from dementia, promised in 2005 to replace the closing Poppyfields Residential Home, will not go ahead owing in part to the economic downturn.

However the economic downturn has had no effect on their plans to relocate council employees to a new building, a move that will cost the council an estimated £16m (pdf file). This move involves closing non-Town Hall offices in Weston-Super-Mare, affecting an estimated 883 members of staff. On 14 Jan, in spite of several interventions from concerned members of the public, thecouncil approved the plans to purchase the new site, borrowing roughly £14m for the move.

The council has yet to confirm whether any redundancies are to be made, there has been an ongoing dispute between the executive and a local newspaper about this issue. Whatever the eventual decision, the council’s actions have left a lot of employees feeling pretty insecure about their employment situation. The lack of clarity in Conservative Party policy, from national to local, is worrying.