“Weak” Council struggles under Lib Dem / Tory control
Lambeth Council is officially one of the worst councils in the country. Government inspectors have just completed a review and have judged the Council to be 'weak'. When Labour lost the Council elections in 2002, the new Liberal and Tory alliance discarded Labour’s widely praised improvement programme without any alternative strategy in place. Senior managers walked out, the Liberals ran up massive overspends and then imposed a 30% council tax hike to pay it off. The Government was forced to send in advisers who instructed the Council to sort out its finances. This has undoubtedly helped. But poor management has set back the Council's recovery by up to two years, as this is reflected in the latest review. Housing benefit is out of control with claimants waiting up to four months for their entitlement, children's social services are in crisis and day care centres for the elderly have closed. In addition, Council Tax has gone through the roof and car drivers are being stung by the Liberals’ infamous parking contract. Cllr John Kazantzis, Lambeth Labour Group's Housing spokesperson commented: “Under Labour, Lambeth council was improving rapidly, but since the Liberals have taken control, things have stagnated.” “I fear that things are unlikely to get
better while the Liberals and their Tory allies are in control. We’ve
seen eveything from council tax hikes to dodgy parking contracts. They
have proven that they have neither the competence nor the political judgement
to run Lambeth Council effectively.”
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