There was confusion this week over the Labour Council’s official attitude to the future of health care in Luton when it was revealed the Council’s Executive members could not remember that at an earlier meeting they had voted to recommend the Primary Care Trust (PCT) cancel a number of NHS services provided to vulnerable elderly local people.

The Executive meeting on Monday 26th November discussed a proposal from Liberal Democrat councillors that they should support the thousands of local people who had called on the Luton Primary Care Trust to restore the Walk-in Centre hours. When Lib Dem leader David Franks asked them to reconsider their earlier decision it became clear the Labour members did not know what they had decided at a previous meeting.

At an Executive meeting on the 29th October they agreed to support Option 1 of the official PCT consultation document which would restore the opening hours at the cost of cancelling a number of other services mainly aimed at vulnerable older residents.

“What chance have we got when the Labour Executive does not even know what they decided to do?” asks Liberal Democrat leader David Franks.

“How safe are Luton residents in their hands? They made the decision, no doubt checked the minutes of the meeting, and yet they did not know what they had agreed. How incompetent can you get?”

In a mad scramble to undo the damage at the meeting the Labour leader even suggested the minutes of the earlier meeting should be changed. It fell to a Council official to make it clear it would be illegal to alter the minutes after the event.

“It is all very well having the right motives but that’s not much good if you send the wrong message to the PCT who will make the final decision. The Labour leadership is in a real mess, they do not know what they are doing.” says Cllr Franks.