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Graham,The Council announced that Ealing would face having to make "savings" of £53 million at its cabinet meeting on 22nd June.  This is a target that seeks to reduce by 25% the amount of funding the council needs from government – a sensible assumption.  Savings can be "cuts" or price increases for charged services.  If the Council could make these savings they could leave the council tax unchanged for the next three years.  See the paper here:http://www.ealing.gov.uk/ealing3/export/sites/ealingweb/services/council/committees/agendas_minutes_reports/cabinet/25may2010-23may2011/_22_june_2010/Item_11_-_Budget_Strategy_and_Process_2011-12.docIn their manifesto Labour promised:"Keeping your council tax low with a freeze in the firstyear."After four years of Conservative rule Ealing residents know what low means.  It means zero or the odd 1%.  Not 3% or 5%.  Labour are clearly in a vice - a vice that was entirely to be expected and it is no use complaining that the manifesto was written without any foreknowledge that there would be hard times to come.  It is worth noting that the deficit last year was £155 billion.  In other words the Labour government borrowed £5,000 on behalf of each and every worker in the UK during the course of one year.  That kind of death spin had to be stopped.  During the course of the last four year Tory administration the Council achieved savings in the order of £60 million with pretty much no-one noticing so it is not unreasonable to suppose that £53 million savings target will not be the end of the world however much the Labour council tries to blame the Coalition for its problems.  If you want to keep in touch with what is going on keep an eye on the cabinet agenda.  The first £5 million tranche of savings are already online prior to next Tuesday's cabinet meeting, see here:http://www.ealing.gov.uk/ealing3/export/sites/ealingweb/services/council/committees/agendas_minutes_reports/cabinet/25may2010-23may2011/_14_Sept_2010/Item_15_-_Appendix_1.pdf

Phil Taylor ● 5863d

"During the course of the last four year Tory administration the Council achieved savings in the order of £60 million with pretty much no-one noticing"-  Oh yeah? We certainly noticed it in my South Ealing neighbourhood:--  blatant failure to enforce parking restrictions in our CPZ so residents can park near their own homes and aren't blocked in by school parents  -  indeed, walking away from the whiole serious problem of school traffic and parking, leaving residents to suffer the consequences.-  reneging on an undertaking to amend the CPZ restrictions so our resident parking bays aren't used by commuters all day and by Heathrow travellers for days or even weeks on end.-  failure to reinstate our local park promptly after it had been used for a school construction access road, then well over a year later doing only half the job leaving a serious flooding problem after every rain shower.-  failure to provide the standard of pedestrian paving and street furniture and general streetscene environment  our local shopping street merits.The discredited Council administration of which you were such a complacent and self-important part achieved the seemingly impossible feat of matching and even exceeding the level of complacency, unresponsiveness, incompetence and sustained wilful negligence of its odious predecessor. That we're in for another few years of much the same with only a change of party colour doesn't excuse your and your colleagues' dereliction and treachery in office, and if I were you I'd keep quiet about it rather than trumpeting it here.

Chris Veasey ● 5863d