21 March 2010

Secret Budget mark II

Having won the 2006 council elections with a secret budget, H&F Tories are trying the same trick again.

But council finances are much worse after four years of Tory control so they have not been able to repeat their promises to emulate Wandsworth council. There are no pledges to cut council tax beyond 2011.

Instead local residents should be very worried about huge cuts to local services if the Tories get re-elected on 6 May. With budget 'risks' of more than £25 million, cuts are inevitable with higher fees and charges for those who need services most; another 1,000 jobs in danger; and local services and facilities closed down and sold off.

Just one example. In the north of the borough the Wormholt Tenants and Residents Association has been told to move out of Wormholt library where it has held activities and meetings for decades - to be replaced by a fee-paying prep school. But in the recession parents locally have been taking children out of private education and putting them in local primary schools at the same time as Tory H&F council closed a primary school. The result of course is that local primary schools are now oversubscribed and parents can't get their children educated locally!

Smart move....

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