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West End Extra - FORUM - OPINION IN THE WEST END EXTRA
Published: 27 February 2009

Cllr Paul Dimoldenberg

Job cuts at the Town Hall will hit morale and public services

A strict programme of savings is key
to getting the borough’s finances back on track, says Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg

SO, Westminster Conservatives say they have an “economic recovery plan”.
Try telling that to the 200 people whose jobs at City Hall are to be cut over the next few months as residents and staff count the cost of the council’s reckless £17million investment in now-failed Icelandic banks.
The fact of the matter is that council services will suffer and staff morale will fall as the jobs are cut and when staff leave and are not replaced.
The Conservatives have been in denial about this massive financial loss but now the true impact is coming through in both employment and human terms – 200 people will not only lose their livelihoods, but they will no longer be providing a service to Westminster residents.
There is massive waste at City Hall – and big savings to be made. For example, we have identified the following savings which could be introduced with no impact on services:
l halving the council’s communications and public relations budget – saving £1.5 million a year;
• a 50 per cent reduction in the amount spent on taxis and hire cars by the council – saving £100,000;
• reducing the amount spent on food and refreshments for councillors and senior officers at council and committee meetings – saving £30,000 a year;
• halving the amount spent by the Lord Mayor on hospitality – saving £20,000 a year;
• reducing the amount spent on the Civic Dinner – saving £20,000 a year.
A combination of a number of large savings items, together with a range of smaller savings, is a balanced approach to getting the council’s finances back on track following the Conservatives’ reckless gamble on Icelandic investments.
Labour would use the savings to provide:
• encouragement for small businesses by providing value-for-money premises in Westminster;
• increased resources for advice to residents on personal debt-management and benefits take-up;
• extra training for front-line council staff to enable them to deal helpfully with distressed and vulnerable residents;
• a review of parking regulations outside shopping parades so that shoppers and traders are not penalised for minor infringements of the parking regulations;
• a freeze on rent increases imposed on small shops owned by the council in Church Street, Harrow Road, Tachbrook Street, Lupus Street and other council-owned shop parades.
Last year the council’s chief executive, Mike More, painted a bleak and dysfunctional picture of the Conservative-run council which he described as “costly”, “expensive” and where “often one department doesn’t realise what other departments are doing”.
Everyone knows that there is a huge amount of waste in Conservative Westminster.
It is time to cut out the costly and expensive items and put the money saved to work on behalf of local residents and businesses at this time of economic difficulty.

• Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg is Leader of the Labour Group at Westminster City Council

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