From today's Guardian newspaper, read more hereDebbie Domb should be happy. Her local council is the self-styled "borough of opportunity", where council tax is being slashed, more bobbies are on the beat, three public parks boast Green Flag environmental awards, and a £2m library has just opened at negligible cost to the taxpayer, thanks to private sector partnership.
The Conservative-run council's promise of "putting residents first" has sent public approval ratings soaring. In a poll of 1,260 people last year, 64% said they were satisfied with the council – 10% more than in 2007 – and it holds a maximum four-star rating from the Audit Commission.
This Tory flagship local authority has won praise from the shadow chancellor, George Osborne, for grasping that most elusive of political holy grails – low council tax combined with improving services. And Whitehall Tories are eager to emulate the success of their town hall counterparts in west London who, according to Osborne, have been "rooting out waste and cutting costs or improving services through innovative new policies".
Yet innovation and improving services appear thin on the ground to Domb, a resident of the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
No comments:
Post a Comment