Andrew Marr got his facts wrong complain Council

Cheshire East Council has lodged a complaint with the BBC Andrew Marr Show over a remark implying that the council had ‘cut services to the bone.’

The Council has requested a retraction and correction.

In an interview with the Prime Minister David Cameron, Mr. Marr said ‘The leader in Tatton – Conservative council leader – saying things are being cut to the bone, they cannot carry on given the pressure on old age services….”

A Council spokesman said the presenter was clearly confused as there is no such local authority as Tatton, only the Parliamentary constituency situated in Cheshire East.

“Anyone watching the programme will automatically assume that he was referring to Cheshire East Council,” said the spokesman.

He added: “It is totally untrue for Andrew Marr to suggest this council is cutting services to the bone, especially adult social care services.

“We continue to invest in adult social care, dementia care and community care services in order to meet the requirements of the new Care Act and to ensure that our older people get all the support they require.

“We are passionate about innovation, regeneration and economic development and our business model has helped us to maintain frontline services, freeze council tax for four consecutive years and avoid any compulsory redundancies.

“Once again the Council has balanced its budget whilst focusing on frontline services and there is every prospect that there will be no council tax increase next year, for the fifth year running.

“Our performance as an authority has resulted in significant jobs growth and low unemployment and we are complimented by other local authorities for our business model.”

Council Leader Councillor Michael Jones said “We have to challenge this because Andrew Marr will have left many viewers with the impression that as an authority we are struggling to make ends meet when there could be nothing further from the truth.

“We expect him to clarify this in a future programme very soon.”

“We are a council that innovates. We innovate we do not cut.”