EVERYyear the Government gives guidelines to the council on what the annual Tenant Management Organisation rent increase should be.

This is usually based on the inflation rate for the previous September, which this year led to an average increase for TMO tenants of 6.4% from April 1. However, since last September the inflation rate has fallen significantly.

Happily, the Government agreed with Karen Buck MP, and Kensington's Labour councillors, that this additional burden would be too much at a time when money is tight for so many residents.

The Government has therefore provided extra money to ensure that the TMO can cut this increase in half. With some apparent reluctance, Kensington & Chelsea Tory councillors have finally agreed to accept this additional funding and recommend the rent reduction to the TMO - after being pressed to do so by their Labour colleagues. TMO tenants can therefore expect the appropriate rebate 'some time in the future'.

Let us hope that this will not take too long to be implemented.

Sadly, however, no changes to the level of service charges are proposed.

This means that the iniquitous situation, where tenants of Manchester Drive and Lancaster West, for example, pay more than twice the service charges of residents of some other TMO properties, will continue. This is in part due to poor maintenance and neglected repairs over a number of years on those estates.

We will continue to press for greater equity in service charges for Kensington & Chelsea's TMO tenants.

CLLR JUDITH BLAKEMAN Leader of the Labour group