Ealing Liberal Democrats have challenged Labour-run Ealing Council by asking why it has turned its back on keeping ward forums and instead replace them with seven Town committees which LibDems say is like previous area committees.
In a heated debate last night (26 July 2022) during Ealing Council’s last full council meeting before the summer recess, LibDems challenged Ealing Labour by saying they had broken a promise to keep ward forums going and that by going down a Town committee route, certain wards would benefit more than others.
Councillor Gary Malcolm, Liberal Democrat Leader of the Opposition, Ealing Council said: “Liberal Democrats have seen over the past decade that ward forums are loved and have a high attendance. Replacing them with the seven Town committees means that decision making will be taken further away from people. In covid times, residents and businesses wanted to be more involved in their communities. Labour promised to keep ward forums before the election but now that was a blatant lie.”
Councillor Malcolm added: “Liberal Democrats want to see the Council doing the basics correctly but in the past few months they have had to get rid of two failed contractors, had two IT failures causing residents issues with parking, data management and other web services. Labour-run Ealing Council has failed to manage housing checks and repairs, meaning that thousands of tenants may have been living in unsafe conditions.”
Ealing Liberal Democrats leader and leader of Ealing Council opposition Councillor Gary Malcolm raises the issue at the council meeting.