by Ian Austen

ian.austen@essnmedia.co.uk

Before new council tax bills have even been printed for this year, Labour is saying rates will be frozen next year if the party gets back into power in May.

Tony Newman, Labour leader on the council, says this would be achieved through an already costed but "cautious" programme of savings.

These would include scrapping the council's newspaper and neighbourhood enforcement officers, as well as cutting back on consultants.

He also plans to spend more money on ambitious projects such as introducing free school meals for all in primary schools and better recycling collections.

Cllr Newman told the Advertiser: "This is not just some kind of pledge or promise, it is a contract with the people of Croydon, it is in blood."

He is expected to unveil his proposals in full at Monday's (March 1's) full council meeting.

At that meeting, the council will ratify this year's 0.8 per cent council tax rise, which was formally approved by the cabinet on Monday.

Under Cllr Newman's initial proposals out will go the council's Your Croydon newspaper which, he claims, including officers' time, is costing council taxpayers £500,000 a year.

Out too will go the council's neighbourhood enforcement officers (NEOs), employed by the council to support the police but having next to no real power.

Cllr Newman said: "Nobody really knows what they are for and therefore they are failing to deliver."

Abandoning the officers will save £900,000 a year and Cllr Newman intends to use part of that to "buy" more police time.

He said: "As an example it may be that police safer neighbourhood teams are finishing at 8pm and we could pay for them, if necessary, to stay on duty until midnight.

"We want there to be more officers on the streets where people need them and when people need them."

The bill for council consultants, now standing at £10 million, would also be lopped by around £2.5 million.

And, controversially, Cllr Newman says a Labour council would stop funding a bailout for the Croydon Economic Development Company (CEDC).

This is supposed to drive forward regeneration in the borough but is in financial difficulty and will cost taxpayers £2 million this year.

He said: "We have said economic development is crucial but we believe it can be best served from a council perspective in-house."

These combined savings, Cllr Newman says, would help fund a three-year rolling programme introducing free meals to all primary school pupils at an annual cost of £2.65 million a year.

There would also be a massive increase in recycling, with weekly instead of fortnightly collections and wider food waste collections, costing £2.5 million a year.

He said: "Over the four years of a council term we would save £23.6 million with the new spending programme costing £21.4 million. That leaves us with a cushion which will enable the first year's tax to be frozen and tax be kept at a low level for the following three years."