THE Labour group leader has “no regrets” after a budget proposal to give the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) money cost his party the vote of one of his councillors.
Councillor Kevin Montgomery – an employee at the advice service – had to declare an interest in the spending plans because they included a £200,000 commitment to the CAB.
It meant the opposition member could not back his party in a nail biting vote – in which the Labour group narrowly lost by 21 to 19 – and led SNP administration Councillor Will Mylet to question whether they even wanted their budget to pass.
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However, Labour group leader Councillor Eddie Devine said it was never an option to “play politics” with a service they believe to be more crucial now than ever.
He said: “I’m obviously disappointed our budget didn’t pass but ultimately we have no regrets.
“I still believe the administration budget is smoke and mirrors and I don’t think getting the council into debt is the right way to do it.
“Kevin couldn’t vote and we accepted that would be the case, with the CAB being his employer, but we believe in the CAB and we believe it needs more funding.
“The service is more important than ever.
“We wouldn’t have been true to ourselves if we didn’t put that in our budget.
“I get the fact the vote could have helped but we didn’t want to play politics. It wouldn’t have felt right doing it underhand.”
Labour budget proposals called for investment in roads and footpaths, green spaces, mental health services for primary school children and a new 3G pitch at Gryffe High School.
It also wanted a combined £400,000 spent on the CAB and Renfrewshire Foodbank.
The Conservative group saw the value in the Labour group’s budget, with seven of their eight elected members voting in favour of their proposals.
And Councillor Devine said it was encouraging to see another political party back their alternative budget.
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He added: “We are proud of what we tried to do and even though it’s the Conservatives – and we don’t always agree – it was encouraging to see them vote for our budget.”
Conservative Councillor Alistair Mackay opted to abstain after voicing concerns over the lack of time given to consider “such an important issue”.
Independent Councillor Paul Mack was another who chose to abstain.
This meant Lib Dem Councillor Eileen McCartin and Independent Councillor Andy Doig played important roles in swinging the outcome as they opted for the administration budget.
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