Lambeth Liberal Democrats

A Liberal Democrat Budget for a Fairer Lambeth - And Not Just a Freeze but £15 Cut

Liberal Democrats are proposing to cut average council tax by £15

Liberal Democrats in Lambeth have published their Alternative Budget and pledged a £15 cut in average council tax.

Launching the proposals, Lambeth Liberal Democrat Leader Cllr Ashley Lumsden said, "Labour's Leader in Lambeth has talked of impending drastic cuts from Central Government Funding after the election of 20% and that 'no council can afford to keep on doing what it's been doing' - while Gordon Brown has also clearly indicated that the cuts necessary to get the country out of its present economic mess will fall hardest on public services.

"These swinging cuts already alluded to by Labour really do need to be spelled out clearly before the local and national elections so that the electorate has a clear idea where the Labour axe will fall. Vague talk about efficiency savings will not do.

"That's why it is vital that the Lambeth budget and the budget setting process sets out a clear path not just for balancing the books for the coming election period but demonstrates the type of Council people have the right to expect over the next four years."

Liberal Democrats are warning that in an era of rapidly dwindling resources we have to divide the cake up a lot more fairly than hitherto and ensure that those hardest hit and on low incomes during the recession are not made to pay disproportionately.

Sadly, it is a fact that during the Labour Years in Government the gap between the rich and the poor has widened considerably. Here in Lambeth, while consultants have grown fat under Labour, Council Housing has deteriorated and rents have gone up while charges on often non-existent or low-level services have simply rocketed.

"We were also shocked when Labour councillors trousered big increases in their own responsibility allowances while escalating hourly charges for vital home care for elderly, vulnerable or disabled people to levels that are some of the highest in the land. That didn't seem very fair to us!" added Cllr Lumsden.

Liberal Democrats are demanding a much more aggressive push to reduce the number of council buildings and encourage the officers to use them more efficiently and cheaply using modern techniques such as hot-desking.

"Labour has left old council buildings like Mary Seacole House in Clapham empty and run-up huge security bills in the process," said Councillor Lumsden. "What a waste! Our budget actually proposes over £5 million more of savings than Labour's. That's clear evidence that Labour's fine talk about a Leaner Lambeth is just that - talk."

Liberal Democrats will scrap Labour's £100,000 cuts to street sweeping regimes and we will give an extra £300,000 to improve our much needed parks and open spaces. That puts some real meat on Labour's somewhat skeletal commitment to a cleaner, greener borough.

Lib Dems will also get to grips with recycling. Between 2002 and 2006 the Lib Dems raised recycling from Labour's sub-8% to 24%. That's solid achievement. Under Labour over the past four years green initiatives have suffered and stagnated and even now the borough only recycles a dismal 25%. Not much to be proud of there.

And there's not much to be proud of about energy consumption in Council buildings. Just attend any meeting in the Town Hall to see how windows have to be opened just to cope with the sweltering unregulated heat. And Labour has the cheek to ask you to reduce your energy consumption.

Labour has more fine words about Leisure and Young People - but the facts show that currently two out of three Council-run Leisure Centres are closed. In Clapham they have broken a 2006 election pledge to keep Clapham Swimming - here the swimming pool will be closed for two years. In Streatham the swimming pool closed without warning and its future is yet to be determined. In Brixton adults can only swim before 9am or after 6pm because of all the dislocated school swimming classes from the other sites. And they all face a trek up several flights of stairs outside in the cold between the pool and the changing rooms.

Elsewhere our once fine libraries are crumbling and in crisis. They have even been likened to looking like the ruins of ancient Greece by the local press. "We're not even sure that Labour cares much about libraries - they are too busy conjuring up virtual libraries to hoodwink audit inspectors," added Cllr Lumsden.

Crime is sadly on the increase yet Labour scrapped the Council Crime Wardens while many CCTV systems either do not work or need overhauling. So the Liberal Democrats are proposing to fund new neighbourhood initiatives designed to give local people more power to find local solutions. And they'd fund new local initiatives to provide creative and sports and play outlets for young people and also ways of giving them more of a say.

Finally the Liberal Democrat Alternative budget would reduce the hourly cost of homecare for our older citizens to just £10 per hour - less than half that approved by Labour. And Liberal Democrats have satisfied Lambeth Finance Officers through their more rigorous approach to financial planning can lop-off £15 from average Council Tax bills in 2010/11.

"Now that's a whole lot fairer isn't it?" asks Cllr Lumsden.