By Jamie Hailstone Vital community projects could face the axe as councils continue to struggle to pay for the cost of immigration to Britain. Cheryl Coppell, chief executive of Slough Council, has warned projects which promote social cohesion – such as community centres and translation services – could be the first to go as council budgets are stretched by immigration. Ms Coppell told The MJ: ‘The services which are most under pressure are the discretionary services. ‘The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has just become responsible for social cohesion and (local government minister) Phil Woolas has talked about all these things that should be in place. But we have been doing them for years. These are services which are under threat.’ LGA chairman Lord Bruce-Lockhart warned this week that council tax could soar next year – in some areas by 6% above the rate of inflation – to pay for the cost of immigration. Ms Coppell said the Government should give special grants to areas and cities where groups were moving in. ‘We believe a lot of Slough’s vibrancy is due to the groups that have come into the town, but we are concerned that if more put pressure on services, then it could lead to a backlash, which none of us wants to see,’ added Ms Coppell. Government figures showed that Slough had the ninth fastest-growing population in the country between the 1991 and 2001 census. But Ms Coppell said government statistics since then had claimed that the population was shrinking, which was not the case. Lord Bruce-Lockhart wrote this week to home secretary John Reid demanding improvements to the way immigration numbers were recorded. In the letter he said: ‘Unless accurate, up-to-date figures on migration are produced, so that the proper funding to councils can be reflected, it could pose severe problems in the future as services get cut, or council tax has to rise disproportionately for growing migration growth.’ A DCLG spokesman said: ‘This government has increased funding to councils by 39% since 1997 and has said that it expects to see an average council tax increase of less than 5% in England in 2007/8.’ j.hailstone@hgluk.com
