Community activists who work with authorities to keep their street safe are concerned that a proposed £100,000 cut to the scheme would hurt their efforts to tackle serious issues.
The Neighbourhood Champions scheme, launched in 2009 by the Conservative administration to train neighbours how to identify problems in their street and report crime, now boasts 1,000 members including Harrow's London Fire Brigade borough commander Richard Claydon.
It could be scaled back however should Labour take power after the upcoming council elections on May 22, with their manifesto detailing how they would cut the scheme and rebrand it.
Chrstine Hawkes, neighbourhood champion for Weighton Road, Harrow Weald, said: "It's the first I have heard of it.
"I know Labour cut back on the scheme last time [when in administration from 2010 until 2013] and we did not hear about it very much, but to do that again would put the money they're spending on it now to waste.
"We have just started out with the new website portal to help Neighbourhood Champions contact each other, so why would they change it now?
"When I speak to other neighbourhood champions, there are some very serious issues in their areas so I think it is a great scheme."
Mrs Hawkes was one of the first to campaign against Labour and Independent Labour's plans to leave park gates unlocked overnight to save cash – a decision they eventually backtracked on following an Observer campaign – and the scheme is widely recognised to bolster a sense of community in Harrow.
Leader of Harrow Council Susan Hall said: “It’s genuinely disgraceful, and a massive slap in the face to over a thousand residents who already serve as Neighbourhood Champions, as well as hundreds more who have expressed an interest or who are awaiting training.
"Just what do Labour hate so much about the idea of people being good neighbours and taking pride in where they live?
“They neglected it for three years when they were in power – seeing the numbers plummet – and then tried to cut the extra money we put into the scheme as part of our budget in February.
"Labour say nice things about Neighbourhood Champions when it suits them, but have strangled it at every opportunity behind the scenes – and now make clear their plans to kill it off once and for all.”
The cut was first tabled by Labour in February when the full council met to agree a budget, and while the party failed to push it through, getwestlondon understand that it will be implemented by a Labour administration.
Labour leader David Perry rejected claims he intends to kill off the scheme as 'political electioneering' and added: "Labour see the potential of the scheme if it were to be broadened further incorporating further resident responsibility.
"We see resident involvement as a key component of helping to create a better community."
