Hounslow Council has a turnover of £1bn+ yet the ‘alternative budget’ proposed by Conservative Leader, Cllr Peter Thompson last week (Chronicle 1 March 2013), involved £1.6m - just 0.016%.
They said they didn’t like Labour’s budget but made absolutely no proposals to increase or decease spending on anything.
No additional money for action on crime, no extra for education or street cleaning, nothing more to boost jobs, build homes and not a single extra penny did they propose to save.
Their alternative to everything was to take £1.6m from a performance improvement fund and add a few pounds to the council tax cut Labour had already proposed.
But their forensic investigation of the budget only came up with enough cash for a cut for one year and would have required the council tax to go up again next year.
If they had been serious about cutting the council tax why did they vote against the one we delivered?
Only Labour councillors voted to cut the council tax, every Conservative councillor voted against.
When the Conservatives were in power they did not cut the council tax once.
And the improvement fund they now say they want to end sat idle throughout their rule and they never proposed ending it at all.
Since 2010, Labour have used that fund to help change the Council, to get it leaner and more focused on the priorities of residents.
If the Conservatives had had their way, the improvements everyone says we need in Hounslow would have come to a juddering halt.
Theo Dennison
Syon ward councillor (Labour)
