Labour Councillors have pledged to restore almost £600,000 of cuts to voluntary sector groups by axing Council waste. Labour say that they will restore grants to voluntary groups by cutting the following waste;

• Staff bonuses for the highest paid senior Council officers – £360,000
• Council hospitality, including food and wine for Councillors – £210,000
• Civic Dinner – £23,000

Nearly 80 voluntary projects have been refused funding, despite the fact that many of them are recognised by the Council as delivering important services. Some of the projects that have been refused funding are:

• St John’s Wood Adventure Playground: £19,300
• Youth Project for Lillington and Longmore Gardens: £12,000
• Queens Park Bangladesh Society: £20,000
• Friends of St Anne’s, Soho: £30,000
• Cardinal Hume Centre in Victoria: £28,000

Speaking at the Council’s Budget meeting on 3^rd March, Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group, said:

“Next year’s voluntary sector budget has been slashed by over half a million pounds despite local voluntary groups playing a vital role in delivering services to the community, particularly to those who are vulnerable. We will cut of hundreds of thousands of pounds of Council waste so these groups can get the finance they need to continue the great job they do for local people.”

Do you think that the Council should ditch funding a children’s adventure playground and instead have a civic dinner at the Northumberland? WE DON’T!

Join us as we protest against this waste of public money outside the Northumberland in central London on the 9th March – at 6pm.

Email: vincenzo.rampulla@gmail.com for more details

Labour Councillors have accused of Westminster Conservatives of attempting to “buy” victory at the next General Election after ‘The Independent’ revealed that the Conservatives in Westminster North have received donations of more than £300,000 in the past two years, three times more than Labour.

According to ‘The Independent’ on 27th February,

“The Tories in Westminster North, recently beset by infighting over the selection of “Cameron cutie” Joanne Cash as their candidate, collected £319,840. Labour, which is defending a precarious majority of 2,120, was more than £200,000 poorer than its challengers, receiving £110,871 in the two years.”

Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group, said;

“The Conservatives are obviously trying to “buy” the next election because that is the only way they can win. This is an abuse of the democratic process. It is time for the Westminster North Conservatives to come clean on exactly who has been stuffing their bank account with cash. How much of it comes from Lord Ashcroft?”