Confidence in Lambeth Dives in Latest Poll

6.18.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Sat 8th Dec 2007

Residents say Lambeth is getting worse under Labour

Labour-run Lambeth Council has been shown to be doing a worse job than a year ago in a satisfaction survey conducted with its own residents.

The embarrassing disclosure came when Lambeth commissioned OPM ( Office for Public Management ) to conduct an annual face to face survey of residents of the borough as part of its budget-setting preparations for the 2008/2009 Council Tax year.

The survey conducted during the summer of 2007, just over a year after Labour swept to victory at the Town Hall, shows plummeting levels of confidence in the ability which mirrors that of the loss of an Audit Commission star.

Among the findings

Residents do not generally agree that Lambeth Council:

• Provides better value for money than a year ago

• Has the right level of Council Tax relative to other Councils

• Provides good value for money for the Council Tax that they pay

• Provides enough information; or

• Demonstrates good financial management

The biggest drop was shown under the statement " Lambeth council provides better value for money compared to a year ago ". Nearly 10% fewer people interviewed agreed with this statement - down from 29% to 20%. And the worst rated statement was in respect of " Lambeth council demonstrates good financial management. " Only 17% of Lambeth residents agreed with that.

Cllr Brian Palmer, Liberal Democrat Group Chairman, said " This is a terrible set of results and shows that residents do not believe all the Labour spin that things are getting better. Confidence in the Council has plunged to new lows as Labour has racked-up its stealth taxes and put services people really care about under pressure."

Cllr Palmer added, " The really sad thing is that between 2002 to 2006 when the Lib Dems were in power we really started to turn things around from a low base under Labour and these same annual statistics were showing increasing confidence from Lambeth residents. Just a year in power under Labour and it all goes pear-shaped again. Let's face it - Labour lets you down."