Council tax cuts 'paid for by social engineering'

A London borough has been accused of pursuing a programme of "social engineering" to help finance unprecedented council tax cuts.

Hammersmith and Fulham has announced plans to trim bills by three per cent for the second year in succession - bucking the trend of local government.

This is being done alongside radical policies to tackle crime and increase housebuilding that could be adopted by Boris Johnson if he becomes Mayor next year.

But critics of the new Conservative administration say the cuts are being financed by Thatcherite privatisation plus higher charges and staff redundancies.

They accuse the Tories of cutting services and social housing with the aim of driving poorer residents from the borough and changing its character. They point to:

140 home helps being made redundant.

Increased charges for burials, meals on wheels and car parking.

The sale of a youth club, school buildings and council houses.

The downscaling of the main reference library.

A tightening of the criteria under which social care is provided.

New charges for recycling garden waste.

Andy Slaughter, Labour MP for Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush, said: "The longer-term strategy is social engineering - if you have fewer poor people, you can spend less money and it will cost less on the council tax.

"What they're trying to do is reduce the amount of social housing in the borough. I'm not alleging illegality but all the techniques are so similar to what Shirley Porter did in Westminster back in the Eighties. The message is very clear: we don't really want you here. You cost us a lot of money".

Dame Shirley was found guilty of gerrymandering by moving less wealthy residents thought likely to vote Labour out of marginal seats in order to preserve Tory control at Westminster city hall. She eventually paid £12 million to her former authority.

Mr Slaughter, a former borough leader, said he had no objection to cuts in council tax, but questioned how they would achieved.

"I smell a rat," he said. "It's not just about cutting services. It's about changing the character of the borough, which means disposing of anything to do with the poor and trying to increase gentrification, which obviously has political benefits for them."

He believes his suspicions are supported by a delay in an Audit Commission report into the borough, which will not be published until mid-February after being challenged by the Tories. Labour believes the report may show Tory cuts have already harmed standards of service for residents.

Labour claims Hammersmith Library, in Shepherd's Bush Road, has been downscaled with the withdrawal of its reference section and sale of its specialist books collection. The mobile library and housebound readers' service have been axed.

Bert Schouwenburg of the GMB union has been fighting proposals to privatise parks maintenance and refuse collection. He said: "The poorest people are suffering disproportionately. The richest people probably won't even notice."

The council's Tory administration disputes any comparison with Dame Shirley and boasts of an energetic approach to create a "borough of opportunity".

It has unveiled plans to surpass the housebuilding targets set by Ken Livingstone, targeting its efforts on young Londoners earning £20,000 to £50,000 a year but unable to find a home - the so-called "Bridget Jones generation" highlighted by Boris Johnson.

It wants to attract more local children to its schools - one quarter currently go private and another quarter cross the borough boundaries. A partnership with the French government is planned for a bilingual "lycee", while a city academy is proposed for Hammersmith.

Nick Botterill, the council's deputy leader, said more needed to be done for the "people in the middle" for whom council tax was at its limit. Key to this was providing more homes they could afford to buy.

He said: "We are trying to create a ladder of opportunity that moves social housing from being a destination to a springboard, so people can move up. Social mobility has dried up. The life chances of children born into the poorest section of society are shrinking. As a Tory I think that is outrageous."

KEY POLICIES

Schools: To redevelop an unpopular state school, the Hurlingham and Chelsea, into a partnership with the Lycée Francais private school, with free access for local pupils. New City academy planned for Hammersmith as well as a sell-off of Peterborough primary. Two state secondaries, Fulham Cross and Henry Compton, may be brought together on a single site.

Housing: To reduce Mayor's affordable housing target for the borough from 65 to 40 per cent - below his "aspirational" London-wide 50 per cent figure. But the council wants to increase housebuilding from 450 to 600-650 a year, which would increase the number of affordable homes from 225 to 240 a year.

Council tax: Band-D bills are £1,193, of which £303 goes to the Mayor. A £27 cut is proposed - resulting in a net cut of around £20 after Ken Livingstone's latest rise.

Crime: Some £4million is being invested in a two-year 24-hour community policing pilot in Shepherd's Bush and Fulham Broadway. The first six months have seen a burglaries cut in both areas and robberies in Shepherd's Bush. However, woundings rose by nearly 25 per cent in Shepherd's Bush.