Thursday, 02 September 2010

Council pushes on with controversial ALMO

21 September 2007 | Updated: 10 June 2008 7:55 pm

Lambeth Council is pressing ahead with its controversial plan to set up an.....

Lambeth Council is pressing ahead with its controversial plan to set up an arm's-length management organisation despite only 42 per cent of residents voting in favour of the proposal.

At a stormy council meeting last week the ruling Labour party quashed opposition party motions to ditch the plan.

The decision follows a letter by David Prichard-Jones, a tenant member of the shadow board set up to oversee the transition, which warned councillors the ALMO was 'doomed to failure'.

The London authority came under fire in July for claiming that a majority of tenants supported its plans to set up an arm'slength management organisation. But the 51 per cent figure it quoted included 1,398 'don't know' votes, with only 42 per cent voicing support.

The council's Liberal Democrat housing spokesperson Jeremy Clyne said: 'To achieve only 42 per cent of the vote in favour, despite the huge pro-ALMO campaign by the council and the Labour Party, and despite the manipulation of the ballot, is a miserable result and amounts to a pretty clear rejection of the plan.'

A council spokesperson said: 'Lambeth Council is committed to ensuring that tenants and leaseholders benefit from decent quality homes. The ALMO is the best way of delivering on this commitment.'

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