Councillor Alan Jarrett, Leader of Medway Council and Medway Conservative Group has issued the below statement:
“During my interview on Radio Kent on the 1st February 2021, I was shocked to hear the claims made by Labour member Councillor Clive Johnson that we need to invest more in children’s services. At the 2020 budget meeting Labour, in a recorded vote, voted against the motion to increase funding for Children’s Services by £7 million. However fortunately this unbelievably callous act was in the minority and Medway Conservatives allocated an additional £7 million to funding Children’s Services.
It is important to highlight the hypocrisy of the Labour opposition in Medway which calls for more investment for Children and Families and then votes against it! I call on the opposition to publicly apologise for its continual misrepresentation of the truth, and for the distress its behaviour is causing children and families in Medway.
Year on year we have consistently invested more in Children’s Services and Adult Services. I can confirm we have spent an additional £19.71 million since 2019/20. In the year 2020/21, our additional investment was £7.126 million (which is the investment Labour voted against last year) and this year we are proposing a further £8.943 million of investment in Children’s Services alone. This illustrates we are making a significant and ever growing investment in this service, and shows how committed we are to its success and to helping those who rely on Children’s Services in Medway."
