According to Councillor Ruth Cadbury, Labour's Deputy Leader of the Council

The Lib Dem/Tory Coalition Government’s decision to cut a variety of grants that Hounslow Council uses to help fund housing, job and schools will have a dramatic impact on services.

The Future Jobs Fund has ended, meaning that 30 young Borough residents will not be helped into training and employment.

A freeze on funds from the Homes and Communities Agency means that 19 Council housing units in Elmwood Avenue, Feltham will not get the go ahead, depriving local families of much need low cost housing. Affordable homes for rent in Beavers Lane, and Convent Way may also be under threat.

A reduction in the availability of Mortgage Relief will affect hundreds of local families who have lost their jobs or income.

In Education, the slashing of the Area Based Grant will mean cuts of £1.8m in services which support vulnerable children.

Schools are not let off either. The scrapping of the Building Schools for the Future programme in Hounslow halts the replacement of five schools, including a Special School.

Councillor Ruth Cadbury, Deputy Leader of the Council, said:

“Scrapping these Government grants will have an impact on many families in the Borough, particularly those on low incomes. The Government do not need to make these savage cuts, nor with such speed, to address the budget deficit.  They are choosing to, and in so doing are breaking a whole set of promises they made in the General Election.

"This Council will do our best to find other funding for as many of these programmes as we can, but if we do, it will be at the expense of other services."

July 23, 2010