Before we did last night's web chat with Neil Eyre, I sent the pre-submitted questions round a number of candidates. We're pleased to say we've had feedback from Tony Ellerby and Sandra Bainbridge, the current councillors in the Froddingham ward. Below is their response, full, unedited and without editorial comment. Many thanks to every one involved last night in helping VisitScunthorpe.Com establish another first for Scunthorpe's online community, especially to Neil Eyre who's suggestion it was, and also to those councillors who have contributed below. As and when we get any further responses we'll publish them in full. Any members of the public wishing to answer the questions them selves, please, add comments to this article, last night's article, or publish your own: Frodingham questions How are you going to manage the current budget cuts from central government? Tony Ellerby � North Lincolnshire Council received an in-year cut of around �4-million last year from the government. This is unprecedented action, never seen before in this council�s history. On top of that the government has cut around �20-million from the budget for the next 12 months. This leaves elected members with very difficult decisions and choices if we are to balance the books. In February the Labour group put forward a budget which froze council tax and managed to balance the books. I believe it has done so reasonably fairly. There are things we have had to do which in an ideal world we would not have done had we had the extra money. If re-elected I will continue to look out for the people of Frodingham and ensure their concerns are listened to and acted upon. Anyone interested in seeing what we have done can do so by looking at the February budget papers on the North Lincolnshire Council website. Since the council tax has been frozen do you agree that services paid for out of this pot of money should remain the same? Sandra Bainbridge � Council spending on day-to-day issues primarily comes from two pots � funds raised by council tax and funds from government grant. Council tax has been frozen for the next 12 months whilst this Tory-led government has cut their grant by around �20-million. In crude terms should we freeze some services and cut others? Or should we try and limit the �damage� and look to make savings across all services where possible? As a council we have tried to lessen the impact on savings, for example rather than shut a library to save money we have looked to keep them all open but reduce opening hours marginally. Where possible we have looked to keep the service but have looked at ways of doing the same thing at less cost. The roads are in a terrible state and have been getting worse over the last two years. What will you do to ensure more money is not wasted on bad repair jobs? Tony Ellerby � Last year�s big Winter freeze was a once-in-a-generation event. Temperatures plummeted below freezing for days on end and I can�t remember the last time we had snow as we did. It was inevitable, with that type of weather, that local roads would be damaged. It�s not just a problem in North Lincolnshire, it�s been a problem across the whole country. That is why Labour put an extra �1-million for extra road repairs and asked the government for extra funds too. The government cuts mean the council has less money than previous years and that makes it difficult to carry out all the repairs as quickly as we would like. However, I am committed, if re-elected, to ensuring roads in Frodingham ward are reported quickly if they are damaged and repaired as soon as possible. Will you fully disclose just how much money has been borrowed by the council to pay for new buildings and services? Sandra Bainbridge � This information is already available and is included in the council�s yearly budget papers. We have a lot to be proud of in North Lincolnshire. We have the new Brumby Comprehensive School which looks fantastic in our ward and The Pods is set to open next month. In just a few months the Baths Hall will also be open. These are exciting times. I fully support the need to be accountable and transparent, unless there are commercial sensitivities. Will you ensure that the public transport system runs better due to its public money subsidy? Tony Ellerby � Unfortunately a previous Conservative government �privatised� bus services. This means that many routes are run commercially � if a bus company doesn�t make money it can simply pull a route or ask the council to subsidise it a lot more. The council doesn�t have endless pots of money, it�s well known councils are getting less and less. That means all routes should be looked at to ensure we get best value for our money. In Frodingham we are lucky that we have a reasonable bus network and we are also only a stone�s throw from the town centre. Our hands are relatively tied when it comes to adding bus routes. But I promise that I will certainly lobby on behalf of residents when issues are brought to me. When closures of public facilities are announced will you offer the public the time to offer alternative suggestions to permanent closure? Sandra Bainbridge � I believe consultation is absolutely vital � as elected members of Frodingham for the past four years we have listened to the concerns of local people and acted upon them, whether it be for issues of speeding motorists or concerns with North Lincolnshire Homes. As a local resident I watched the Tories close many facilities when they controlled the council without asking people for their views. I am pleased that as a council we made a commitment to listen and that is something we must continue to do. Is the borrowing of approximately �60 million to build a new police building a good idea when other police jobs and services are about to be cut? Tony Ellerby � Just to make clear that as North Lincolnshire councillors we did not get to vote on this issue. I do not know all of the ins and outs and it would be therefore unfair of me to speculate without knowing all the full facts. Needless to say the police play a vital role in keeping us all safe and the government�s cuts are placing them under huge strain. Frontline services will be affected in Frodingham � the Chief Constable has already said that he can�t make any promises � and as your councillor I will do my best to lobby against any cuts which will affect local people.