COMMENT: Labour has a Gordon Brown moment over Rents (Lambeth Liberal Democrats)

Lambeth Liberal Democrats <office@lambethlibdems.org.uk>

COMMENT: Labour has a Gordon Brown moment over Rents

October 22, 2008 3:05 PM

When push came to shove, Labour retreated against the full fury of tenant leaders at Cabinet over proposals to make an unprecedented in-year Housing Rent increase to cover their mistakes. Like Gordon Brown's infamous about turn a year ago when faced with the prospect of an election, Labour Lambeth executed yet another dramatic U-Turn even when an election is not in prospect until May 2010.

Like the pathetic Dickens character, Mr Micawber, Lambeth Labour Leader Steve Reed hopes that something will turn up between now and next April when the next round of rent increases must be set.

Maybe he's thinking that his old friend and political mentor Gordon Brown will bale him out? Hmm. Unlikely. Doesn't the PM have a few financial problems of his own right now without rescuing the fastest declining housing service in the country?

So it looks as though tenants will have to bear the brunt of Labour's gross mismanagement again to the tune of £11 or more a week on average - or more than £700 a year in rent rises and that's on top of the 65% hike in heating charges and the 31% increase in lighting. Labour seriously imagines that against this background that it is also going to improve on its dismal rent collection rate next year.

Meanwhile, Labour will be slashing every known service to tenants, closing more rent offices, reducing key staff but probably not expensive consultants, delaying essential repairs and stifling the wunderkind ALMO at birth, in a desperate attempt between now and April to get back on track. They've even found a dodge to delay the legal requirement to avoid an in-year deficit.

One thing almost anyone with any experience of Lambeth knows is that far from miraculously getting better, things will probably get a whole lot worse, first. What more is there to come out in this fast developing scandal?

There are already many unanswered questions around fraud, for instance. Even one of the expensive management consultants drew attention to that. But Labour has chosen to ignore their warnings. And why did it take so long for the financial crisis that was looming to come out? Was it a classic cover-up to prevent the coveted ALMO from being derailed?

The only thing that is clear is that this is a crisis entirely of Labour's own making.

The tragedy is that tenants are being made to pay for Labour's massive mistakes. They will pay in cash terms in April (and probably the year after that) and they will pay again if Labour's over-inflated ALMO crashes ignominiously to the ground.

And there will be none of the fabled new kitchens and bathrooms to be had from the salvage.

What a waste of time.

What a waste of precious resources.

What a con.