At last week’s Harrow Borough Council meeting, Labour councillors put forward a motion to lobby Government to give us the funding we need.

I am very pleased this motion was passed, but saddened that the Tory opposition didn’t vote in favour of it, showing its weakness in standing up to its own government.

Every council receives the majority of its funding through a grant from central government.

Harrow receives significantly less than our neighbours in Barnet, Ealing and Hillingdon.

If we were to receive the same funding as Brent, we would be able to spend an extra £420million a year.

This would allow us to spend more money on social care, services for the elderly, services for young people, giving them the best start in life, no matter what their background.

Instead, we are in a situation where we have to make cuts to services. Cuts that we don’t want to make, but where we have no choice, as the Government has cut the limited funding that we do get by £75m over the next four years.

However, I’d like to reassure residents that this Labour council takes our financial situation very seriously and we will make the right decisions for Harrow residents, protecting the most vulnerable and the ones that rely on council services the most.

That is why we have carried out such an extensive consultation and are working with community groups to find the best solutions for Harrow.

At the same time, we are continuing the fight for fairer funding and a fairer deal for our borough.

Cllr Kiran Ramchandani

Lab/Queensbury ward Harrow Borough Council