HARROW is facing “the worst of times and the best of times”, the new council was told yesterday (Thursday).

The new Labour leader of the council misquoted Dickens as he set out the tough job facing his administration, formed after the party’s shock victory in May 6 elections.

He called for a massive community effort, with residents at the heart of everything the council does.

Cllr Bill Stephenson said the borough faced major financial challenges, and attacked the new coalition for its treatment of local government.

But the council had tremendous opportunities to improve and transform its services, working closely with all its partners and local residents.

Cllr Stephenson said: “It will be the worst of times because we know that there will be extremely significant cuts in local government funding over the next three financial years.

“We are already preparing to cope with these.

“To make a very serious situation worse, the coalition government has decided to cut our funding this year well. We are still waiting to learn what the actual cuts are.”

“Local government has been picked out for the biggest cuts of all.

“It shows that all the honeyed words used in the election about how wonderful local government is were bitter sweet indeed.

“It is a real kick in the teeth for hardworking councillors of all parties.”

The priority would be to do everything to protect frontline services, particularly for the most vulnerable.

Cllr Stephenson called for party politics to be set aside in the drive to achieve this.

He told the Conservative opposition: “I hope we can work together on a cross-party basis and in tandem with local residents, using our traditional community spirit to collectively make some very difficult choices.”

But the crisis offered a unique opportunity to transform for the better both Harrow and the way council services were delivered.

Cllr Stephenson said: “We have the opportunity to work even more closely with our local partners, such as the NHS, the police and the voluntary sector.

“We have the opportunity to empower local residents by getting them more involved in running local facilities and getting more involved in their neighbourhoods.

“This administration will work with – and listen to – residents, putting them at the heart of everything we do.”

Opposition leader Cllr Susan Hall responded by saying that the defeated Conservative administration had left the borough’s finances and frontline services in “extremely good order”.

She said “I hope the new administration will keep its election promises. We will wait to see what happens.”