Council heads for £3.9 million budget surplus as services axed (London Liberal Democrats)

London Liberal Democrats <info@libdems4london.org.uk>

Council heads for £3.9 million budget surplus as services axed

November 25, 2011 5:15 PM
Originally published by Twickenham & Richmond Liberal Democrats

• [Nov 11]: RICHMOND'S Tory council is predicting a budget surplus of £3.9 million this financial year after making severe service cuts and redundancies. A report for next week's Finance and Performance Overview and Scrutiny Committee shows that if you exclude two one-off items, the council is predicting a budget surplus of £3,898,000 this financial year.

Services for vulnerable people, such as Tangley Hall and Twickenham day centres for the frail elderly have been closed despite huge opposition. Cuts have been made in preventative services and in youth services. Yet it appears many of these cuts were completely unnecessary and will simply result in the council's bulging reserves getting even bigger.

Liberal Democrat finance spokesperson Sir David Williams said: "Richmond Council is in business to provide services, not hoard the public's money. Putting money into already large reserves is no help to the vulnerable people the Tories have disadvantaged over the last year."