WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL LABOUR GROUP
PRESS NOTICE
14th April 2011
WESTMINSTER LABOUR CALL ON CONSERVATIVES TO TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT FRONT LINE SERVICE CUTS
Labour Councillors have called on Conservative Cabinet member Councillor Brian Connell to retract his statement on last night's BBC Newsnight that "over 75% of the Council's cuts are to back-office costs" when the Council's Director of Finance, Barbara Moorhouse has told Councillors that the balance between cuts to front-line services and back office costs is "approximately 50/50".
In a note to Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg on 2nd March, Barbara Moorhouse said;
"Given that the allocation of changes, particularly those on the margin, is subjective we ran a number of alternative analyses on the attribution of savings to efficiencies and cuts. You have one version. Others would have moved the percentages at the margins. That was why I adopted the position in the Budget report that the best estimate was approximately 50/50 over the two-year £84M programme - to allow for some alternative interpretations whilst remaining grounded in the documented base of the savings programme.
The approach used was as follows:
· Each proposal was categorised separately, and no proposals were grouped together:
· The analysis was conducted by a senior member of Finance staff with Local Government experience and reviewed;
· Supporting information was drawn from our detailed implementation plans;
· Staff savings were either cuts or efficiencies depending on whether they were front line staff or not;
· Income generation was deemed to be an efficiency, except where this was a proxy for a service reduction;
· The intention was to make the analysis as objective as possible - whilst recognising that this is difficult to achieve to everyone's satisfaction."
Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group, said;
"We call on the Conservatives running Westminster to tell the truth about the extent of the cuts to front-line services that their damaging policies are causing. These cuts are too fast and too deep and their efforts to hide the truth about the cuts to front line services is a total disgrace. Councillor Connell knows that 50% of the cuts will fall on front line services and yet he went on national TV to claim otherwise. He should apologise to Westminster residents for deliberately trying to mislead them."
ENDS
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