ELECTIONEERING for the borough elections in May is under way as Labour and Tory councillors clashed over the council's budget for the coming year.

After abstaining on the budget vote for the past three years, the Tories who are two seats short of control of the council put forward last-minute proposals at last week's budget-setting council meeting.

With Labour set to slash staffing costs by more than £1.6m, borrow £3.25m from reserves and spend £260m on services this year, the Tories criticised Labour for their lack of ambition. They accused Labour of bottling out of difficult decisions and being a "fag end" administration.

The Tories tried to amend Labour's proposed budget to bring forward job cuts and reduce council publications, to save another £500,000.

They suggested using £120,000 of the cash to beef up Bexley's graffiti removal to a seven-day service; an extra £120,000 for three "floating" support workers to help older people stay in their own homes and £260,000 on bridging the six-month gap for the delivery of Safer Neighbourhoods policing.

Labour slammed the proposals as too late, saying if the Tories had been serious, they would have brought them to the council's scrutiny committees to be properly costed and debated.

Council leader Councillor Chris Ball said Labour supported the ideas because they were exactly what Labour had been doing for the past three years.

Bexley is in the middle of a Government-required staff review.

Tory budget mastermind, Cllr Colin Campbell wanted to bring forward some of those job cuts now.

Cllr Ball said the Tories' suggested savings could not be realised in time to meet Friday's deadline for the budget to be set and to provide them, Bexley's share of the council tax would have to increase from 3.9 per cent to 4.5 per cent.

And he claimed recruiting problems were delaying additional police and support officers, not money.

After the meeting Cllr Campbell admitted tabling the proposals at the last minute was "politics," but claimed, as the net budget requirement was not changing, Friday's deadline was not a problem.

He added police confirmed there would be enough officers to bring forward Safer Neighbourhoods.

The Tory budget changes were defeated.

The Tories then voted against Labour's budget but lost by 29 votes to 31.