Tories 'must learn from councils'. What a state we have got into!

by Bunk | September 10, 2009 at 07:44 am

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In the last week, there has seemed to have been a real change in politics in Britain. Over the past 15 years there was a clear way for Labour to define the Conservative politics. Labour will improve, and invest in public services. Where as the Conservative's will cut spending, and as a result services will suffer. This is how New Labour has campaigned, and very successful it has been.

The finical crisis of this year and the huge strain it has put on public finances has meant all areas of government spending have come under review. The Conservatives has for the first time this week said that they will cut MP wages and freeze them. Now this latest announcement, which they will root out waste and the best example of this is Conservative counsels, who already do this. More for less. This is the Conservative's idea. Though the £175bn spending deficit is huge compared to a few years ago, the extra ordinary circumstances that were this year's finical crisis and the money the government had to put into the markets and banks to stop the freefall. Means that public services that have done nothing wrong will now suffer the same as a private company. Demanding more for less, or spending less, without hurting front line services is where the next general election will be won or lost. The NHS has improved so much over the last 10 years, due to massive investment. Now they along with other major public services will have to suffer due to circumstances beyond their control. And when they do not deliver the same, or better standard of serives they will no doubt be given the blame. What a terrible state we have seemed to have got ourselves into.

A future Conservative government will have much to learn from the way Tory-run councils have saved money, shadow chancellor George Osborne has said.

In a speech to local authorities, he said councils had dealt well with budget "constraints" similar to those to be faced in Downing Street.

Tories are "rooting out waste and cutting costs", Mr Osborne stressed.

But Labour said Tory local councils had prioritised the better-off at the expense of the majority of people.

In a speech to the Conservative Councillors' Seminar in central London, Mr Osborne said councils had led the way in areas such as sharing services publishing spending details online.

"I want the Conservative Party to learn from what local Conservative councils are doing right now, as they are dealing with many of the constraints that we may face very soon," he said.

While Tory central office is developing policies for delivering public services when budgets are tight, local councils have "got on with doing it", he argued.

"When it comes to rooting out waste and cutting costs, or improving services through innovative new policies, Conservative councils are showing it can be done."

Windsor Council and the Greater London Authority were the first to publish detailed information about their spending programmes online, Mr Osborne said.

Tory-run Hammersmith and Fulham reduced administration costs and froze councillor allowances so it could focus resources on schools and more policing, he added.

The BBC's political correspondent Iain Watson said Mr Osborne's speech reflected the Tories' strategy of being upfront about the need for cuts and that all tiers of government needed to take the lead in tightening their belts.

Earlier this week Mr Cameron announced plans to cut ministers' pay and reduce the number of MPs among a range of measures to "cut the cost of politics".

Mr Osborne's comments come amid a row with Labour over the government's spending deficit, which is expected to reach £175bn this year.

The Tories say Gordon Brown's administration is being reckless in its spending, mounting up debt.

They intend to cut public spending if they win the next general election while protecting overall health and international aid budgets.