Sheltered housing attacked by Tories

Thursday, 04 June 2009 22:07

Over the last few months Barnet residents and council workers have been campaigning against plans to privatise council services – plans which we hope will be finally shelved after such strong opposition.  
 
But over the last few weeks local people have been forced to protest against their own council yet again, this time over plans to cut on-site wardens in the borough’s sheltered housing. Kate Belgrave at Liberal Conspiracy reported from the protests and found “a protest group that is made up of exactly the vulnerable Barnet residents that the council purports to so fervidly support.” Next week there will be another lobby, this time of Barnet’s Cabinet, organised by Barnet Unison.

Tories are clearly worried by the public reaction to their cuts to services that support many of the borough’s most vulnerable residents. A report to Barnet's Cabinet proposes to reduce the cut to £400,000 (from £950,000), but it will still result in the loss of the general residential warden service in most sheltered housing blocks.
  
“The report has rowed back on the amount of money the council proposes to cut from the sheltered housing budget,” says Barnet Labour group leader Alison Moore, “but ultimately the residential warden service is still going to be scrapped leaving many vulnerable and frail elderly residents without the support services they want.”
 
Barnet council is not a maverick or eccentric Tory rump but a group that includes senior London Conservative figures. It is led by one of David Cameron’s parliamentary hopefuls – Mike Freer. Its ruling Tory group includes Boris Johnson’s recently reappointed fire and emergency planning supremo, Brian Coleman. Its former chief executive is now the chief executive of the Greater London Authority.
 
The activities of borough councils such as Barnet give us a clear indication of the kind of policies we can expect see from a Cameron government if the Tories win the next general election – vicious cuts to public services, more privatisation and outsourcing, and reducing investment, at a time when people need to be protected from the consequences of the global economic crisis.
 
* The protest against the sheltered housing cuts is on Monday 8th June from 6pm outside Barnet House.