The leader of Harrow Borough Council's opposition group has called into question the authority's new community champion scheme.

The comments come after the official launch of the scheme, which replaces the similar Neighbourhood Champions.

At the launch, council leader Councillor David Perry called for ideas from the conference on how to expand the scheme to other parts of the community.

Leader of the Harrow Conservative group Cllr Susan Hall, said: “The disappointing thing for me was that Cllr Perry and Cllr Parmar kept telling our champions what they can do to make things easier for the council, but said nothing about how the council was going to provide help and support in return.

“This scheme has always worked both ways, but it’s clear Labour simply view it as a way to pick up the slack when their service cuts start to hit.

"I have no issue with expanding the scheme into the community – it was actually an idea I discussed with officers before the election.

“However, the name change is a pathetic attempt by Labour to take ownership of a scheme they have never supported and have cut the funding for at every opportunity.”

At the meeting Cllr Perry said the change to community champions was not made for the sake of it, but to build on what was already in Harrow and expand the scheme to cover the rest of the borough.