Lambeth Conservatives

Labour controlled Lambeth Council will have to cut between 1,700 and 2,000 jobs by 2014 in addition to the 400 already slated to go by March 2011. “In confirming these figures to me senior sources within the council say Lambeth needs to make £62 million of budget cuts over the next three years,” says Conservative Group Leader Councillor John Whelan.

The Emergency Budget papers due to go to a meeting of full Council on July 28 fail to quote any figures on likely job losses and will only become clear after the Government public spending review in the last quarter of 2010. After that officers forecast that the administration will need to produce a “second emergency budget.”

Natural wastage from people leaving for other jobs or retiring accounts for a reduction of around 8 per cent a year in staff. Nevertheless, some council departments will be axed by up to 40 per cent. The proposed cuts do include a long list of service areas where funding has been withdrawn including children’s services. Other services such as planning, payroll and human resources may become merged with other local authorities to achieve savings.

Responding to press questions a senior Labour Cabinet member has said that the 2,000 figure is “unrealistic” but refused to say how many jobs are due to go over the next four years. Cllr Whelan comments: “Whereas no one would expect a list of specific job cuts at this stage it is irresponsible in the extreme to stonewall the question when people need to make decisions about their future.”

In a further sign of belt tightening the Council is scrapping all refreshments for events or council officers and members attending town hall meetings. “No one will mourn the loss of the town hall sandwich or chicken leg which you can buy in a nearby coffee bar,” says Cllr Whelan. “The people responsible for this crisis are the Labour Party who refused to take any action to reduce costs before the election. They made election promises knowing that big cuts in public spending were on the horizon whether Brown or Cameron was in No 10.”