Crawley Lib Dem Councillors - update on the Crawley Borough Council housing "sell off" debate

11.51.51pm GMT Sun 3rd Dec 2006

Crawley Liberal Democrats remain committed to the principle of the Borough Council running it's own social housing department. This however should not be exclusive to the Borough Council if there are other organisations (housing associations etc.) within the town that can provide a service that is equal or better in quality, affordability, service etc. This is especially so for those that provide housing for people with special needs.

Although Labour members locally may chose to ignore it the fact is that this government are the ones who are forcing the Borough Council to ballot their tenants on remaining with the Borough Council or becoming part of a new organisation.

Crawley Lib Dem group leader, Northgate Councillor Gordon Seekings, "Crawley Liberal Democrats remain committed to the principle of the Borough Council running it's own social housing department"

The government have loaded the dice against it being financially sensible for the present housing stock to remain with the Borough Council. Reluctantly therefore we have gone along with the option of a new housing body (Homes for Crawley) being established. We continue to believe that the so called "4th option" would be best for Crawley but accept that until the government changes the rules this is not available to us.

To remove the present uncertainty the logical step therefore is for the tenants to decide as soon as possible whether to remain with the Borough Council or become part of Homes for Crawley. If Crawley's tenants are going to make an informed decision then they need all the facts before they cast their vote.

As hard as it may be the only way that this can be done is to put to them the consequences to the Borough Council's finances and services if the decision is to remain with the Council. This is probably the most important aspect of the present debate as it is our gut instinct that the tenants will chose to remain with the Council.

A lot of misinformation and speculation over the financial consequences to the Borough Council has arisen with figures being widely quoted from £7-£12 million. A "headline" figure of £10 million is probably an acceptable one for the purposes of the debate as it is at present.

Where therefore is this £10 million pounds to come from and what will be the impact on the Council's services? Our job as Liberal Democrats is to ensure that the worst aspects of the service cuts proposed by the Conservatives are negated whilst at the same time attempting to ensure the Council's finances remain sound. To do anything else is to fail the people of Crawley.

At present, notwithstanding what is being reported, no decision has been made to cut any services but to only discuss which ones should be considered for this. What we will continue to do is to forestall any action or consideration of service cuts that protect the most vulnerable.

(Our views on this are certainly different from the Conservatives! Labour's stance of total opposition no matter what flies in the face of the facts and, so far as we are aware, they have no fall back position to protect the most important services if the tenants vote to stay with the Borough Council.)

Conservative Councillor Marcella Head. Voted the same way as the Liberal Democrats to protect the homeless hostels and the lifeline service

Our votes at the special Full Council meeting on Wednesday 22 November had as their aim the protection of the most important services. These were neatly summed up by rebel Conservative Councillor Marcella Head in her letter in the local press on Wednesday 29th November. In that letter Marcella explained why she had voted the same way as the Liberal Democrats and how important it was to protect the homeless hostels and the lifeline service.

We also, as did Marcella Head, vote against the option of reducing the cyclical painting programme. To us it seemed a false economy as it is only when you start the decorating do you discover problems with the external woodwork etc. - and keeping that in a good state of repair is fundamental to the properties being well looked after.

It's worth repeating that although no decision has been made on what services will be changed or cut (as distinct from just being discussed) there are some services that the Borough Council are looking at. These are the ones we supported at the meeting for further investigation and they include:

1. the Borough Council no longer being an "all repairs landlord". In reality it has not been one for some time. What we as Liberal Democrats will continue to do is to ensure that when the specific details of this option is discussed in January we will go through the list with a fine tooth comb to ensure our criteria of "quality, affordability and service" is adhered to. That will mean inevitably we will vote for some of the changes and against others.

2. the "Rewards 4U" scheme costs are high for what is given and it benefits few. The Borough Council should in fact be taking appropriate action (Court Orders/action under the tenancy agreement or encouragement to claim benefits) instead.