Figures uncovered by Liberal Democrat councillors reveal the shocking fact that seven out of ten telephone calls made to Luton Council do not get through and the situation has deteriorated since the May 2007 elections when, by a narrow margin, Labour took over from the Liberal Democrats.

“When we were in control we were very concerned about the number people who phoned the Council and did not get an answer,” says Liberal Democrat leader, David Franks.

“We were working hard to reduce the figure and by April it was down to 36%. We saw the need to keep up the pressure because one in three people not getting an answer is still not acceptable. The shocking statistic is that the figure for May to December 2007 is 69%. July is the busiest month on the phone for the Council and last July 83,000 people phoned – 62,000 of them did not get through. That’s a massive 74%.”

“It really is disgraceful. The Council exists on local taxpayers’ money, it’s their Council and if they need to call they are entitled to an answer. It may take a bit longer when the phones are busy, but they should get an answer in a reasonable time. The performance was improving when we left office, why Labour has allowed it to get so much worse is very hard to understand. It can only be because they are not keeping their eye on the things that matter.”