There is an alternative to closing down services

Published: 10 March, 2011

• YOUR editorial (Labour’s ‘no alternative’ is at odds with the voters) hinted, the big conclusion to be drawn from the budget-setting meeting… that Labour did, after all, have an alternative over what to do in balancing Camden’s books, and that they chose cuts to the voluntary sector and front-line services such as libraries, drop-in centres for the elderly, play centres, the youth service and sports centres rather than speed up the restructuring of council departments and terms and conditions of staff.

The Conservative amendment to the budget (verified as balancing the budget in advance of the meeting by Camden’s finance director) clearly showed it was possible to keep these services open by saving money at the Town Hall by raising income from sponsorship and advertising to meet its future spending needs. 

The concern now is that by rejecting our proposal it will make it ever harder to avoid the cuts Labour have already announced for future years, as the sooner you restructure the sooner you reap the rewards from it. 

Labour kept talking about working jointly with the other parties to find solutions to Camden’s budget deficit, but when presented with just such a solution they chose to retreat into their familiar comfort zone of going soft on the public sector unions and closing down services. 

I wonder what on earth they’ll be chanting when they join the TUC-organised march against the cuts later this month. Camden Labour – Out, Out, Out?

CLLR ANDREW MENNEAR
Conservative, Frognal & Fitzjohns ward