No service cuts in Lambeth

Along with many other councils up and down the country we have now set our budget for this financial year.

This year's budget is the toughest in a generation and we are doing whatever it can to protect the most vulnerable people in our borough. Despite a £37 million funding reduction from Government this year, only £1 million of services will close completely. That's £1 million too much but the fact is it is not worse because we are determined to protect the frontline as much as possible. We've dealt with the rest by cutting out waste and back-office costs.

The budget we have agreed focuses on what local people have said matters to them most, including keeping people safe, investing in better homes, schools and help to get people back to work.

This is not the budget we wanted and I am sorry it's not been possible to protect every service we all care about but it is the best we can do in these challenging times.