| Topic: | Re:defects from the Conservatives to Labour to Reform | |
| Posted by: | Sam Hearn | |
| Date/Time: | 05/06/25 15:17:00 |
| In 2006 a Conservative led coalition took over from Labour at Hounslow. A thorough overhaul of every department was carried out over the ensuing four years and over £60m (from memory) of the core annual budget was stripped out. Council tax was frozen for 4 years. There were almost no compulsory redundancies. Not a single one of the reforms was reversed by the the incoming Labour administration in 2010. So successful was the Conservative restructuring that Labour did not need to increase the council tax for a further 3 or 4 years. Immediately prior to being booted out in 2006 the Labour administration had built a large £4m extension to the Council offices. The huge Council Offices in Lampton Road were emptied out and subsequently sold off for housing. A new far smaller building was built in the centre of Hounslow. All the independent measures of quality and service showed that the Conservative changes had made things better. The number of complaints to the Local Authority Ombudsman was reduced dramatically. The message is clear if you want better quality more effective council services from May 2026 you do not have to vote for the new kids on the block, Reform - when you can vote for the Conservatives who have a proven track record of success in Hounslow. Your local Conservatives know where the bodies are buried and therefore would have a head start if elected to run Hounslow in 2026. |