Council tax could be frozen while investments are made in social care, parks and road maintenance, and special needs transport as part of ‘gimmick-free’ spending plans for the cash-strapped borough.

Harrow Council's Conservative administration wants to scrap a proposed 2 per cent increase - pencilled in by the then-Labour administration back in February - and instead hold the rates at current levels, which are London’s third highest.

Council leader Councillor Susan Hall said of the draft 2014/15 budget, due to be released today: “We have done what we said we would do, which is freeze council tax.

“We are not interested in coming up with gimmicks just because it is coming towards an election year. We are far more concerned with economic stability.

“Everything we do for our residents is based around our Cleaner, Safer, Fairer agenda and it is working because it is what residents want.

“After two weeks of us running the place I was getting e-mails saying Thank You for everything that was being done.

“Will this be difficult to put through? You bet. If the other political groups decide to go against it then we cannot do anything about that but I hope that sense will prevail.”

She said her party, returned to power in September at the expense of the short-lived Independent Labour rule, intends to reduce the authority's current £261million debt to £239million by 2018.

Councillor Tony Ferrari (Conservative), cabinet member for finance, said: “At the end of the last year we saw that we spent a quarter of our council tax income servicing our debt – both in interest and debt repayments – and that debt has gone up about £10million over the last few years. I do not believe the tax payers of Harrow would be pleased about that.”

The Conservative administration has also reversed many of Labour's cost-cutting plans, including their proposals to remove dog bins and leave parks and cemeteries unlocked overnight.

Instead, they have invested further in the maintenance of open spaces and street cleaning.

Here is what they plan to spend:

£600,000 on social care for the elderly

£500,000 on 12 social worker posts

£300,000 on expanding Harrow's special educational needs transport

£150,000 on the reintroduction of weekend street cleaning teams in shopping areas with reported excessive littering

£125,000 on a recycling support team which aims to increase Harrow's recycling rate by 50 per cent

£125,000 on a team dedicated specifically to ensure parks and open spaces are kept clean 

£125,000 on an environmental cleansing team who will respond to complaints such as flytipping

£105,000 on keeping parks and cemeteries locked overnight and reversing Labour's plans to scrap dog bins

£100,000 to relaunch of the Neighbourhood Champions volunteer scheme where neighbours report local crime issues

£100,000 on enhanced planning enforcement including tackling problems such as beds in sheds

It is how they are paying for this which is prompting concern from Labour as the draft budget reveals that funds that were intended to help those most in need will now be reallocated to fund the Tory spending agenda, and Labour warn that should Harrow come under further financial pressure through cuts from central government, they will not have the reserves to cope.

Councillor Sachin Shah, shadow cabinet member for finance said: "This is the kind of budget that gives politicians a bad name. This reckless, irresponsible and unfair budget is completely unacceptable. Their budget makes me angry, not because I am the shadow cabinet member for finance, but because I am a resident of Harrow."

Here is how the Tories will be paying for their 'Cleaner, Safer, Fairer' agenda:

£2,000,000 put aside by Labour to help those most in need will be spent funding the Tory 'cleaner, safer fairer' agenda

£1,000,000 could be used from the council tax base fund of which Labour outlined to give emergency help for those most in need

£568,000 by not introducing free 20 minute parking as planned by Independent Labour

£300,000 by making visitors pay for parking at leisure centres

£280,000 saved annually by scrapping the role of chief executive

Money for the investment in the environment and social care will come from the £2million Labour earmarked for to help those under increasing pressure from welfare reform including the bedroom tax, a further £1million Labour believe could have been used to help the vulnerable, the scrapping of the post of chief executive and retaining an estimated £568,000 of parking income by not introducing 20 minutes free parking boroughwide as Labour and Independent Labour planned.

Opposition leader Councillor David Perry (Labour) said: "It is vital that during times of cuts the Council has robust contingencies budgets to deal with the unexpected. This is why the Labour administration increased the contingency within the budget. This reckless move will leave Harrow open to financial ruin if the council face unexpected circumstances or additional budget pressures in various services."

While much of the spending is being paid for by not implementing Labour's plan of introducing free parking across the borough which was set to cost £568,000, there is no plan in place within the budget to bring free parking to Harrow, although Ms Hall could table her proposals before the council-wide election in May.

The Conservatives minority administration will try push through through its budget at a full council meeting on February 24 2014.