by SIMON ROGERSON

After much huffing and puffing, Harrow's cross-party budget has been conceived and delivered not with a bang, but a simper.

With most of the work now completed well ahead of schedule, councillors took time out at last week's policy and resources committee to marvel at their own sense of togetherness.

This year, for the first time, a select band of councillors formed together in an informal working party to hammer out the finer points of the budget.

In the run up to the process, party leaders in the hung council were privately admitting that they wanted to distance themselves from the budget to avoid any potential political embarrassment.

But that was before the council's capping limit was unexpectedly increased by £7.96 million to £168 million, putting Harrow in an altogether more comfortable position.

There would be little need for cuts to front line services, and the holy cow of schools' delegated budgets would go unmolested.

So, in a heartwarming display of pragmatism, Harrow's fractious elected representatives buried their differences and locked themselves away to find the common ground, which was celebrated on Thursday night.

The facts remains that for the umpteenth year in succession, major cuts have been inflicted on the council -- this time it was the turn of social services and the environment to bear the brunt of the cost cutting measures.

"At first, the idea of having a consensus budget was an anathema -- surely no-one would be prepared to dump their cherished feelings but for the greater good I have bitten the bullet," said Labour councillor Anne Groves. "I have blunt teeth from biting so many bullets."

Liberal Democrat councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst expressed similar satisfaction with the round of talks, and congratulated his fellow members on coming to an agreement without resorting to fisticuffs.

And Harrow people are still facing marked increases in council tax of between seven and 10 per cent, depending on the Police and Fire Authority precepts which will be announced next month.

The current esprit de corps is unlikely to persist for long.

With local elections looming in May, Harrow's bitter political rivalries are expected to resurface with a vengeance.

Conservative councillor John Cowan is preparing for the fray: he expressed pleasure that a balanced budget had been achieved, but added that anticipated council tax increases would hit Harrow families.

"The government did not give us extra money in real terms, although they did seem to give us more money for education, this had no material effect because in their eyes we already overspend in this area," he said.

"We are paying for the shortfalls of Liberal Democrat incompetence."

But with few real issues to get to grips with, the jibes are likely to be personal rather then political: the decisive factor is likely to be the popularity of the parties on a national basis.

For the time being we are left with the satisfaction of seeing level-headed, mostly intelligent individuals forget their differences and work efficiently for the people who voted them in. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000.Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.