We note the ‘outcry’ from Labour local election candidates over the three-yearly independent Hertsmere residents’ survey.

We understand why they are frustrated by the excellent results. That’s because in 1999, when the first survey was conducted after five years of Labour-controlled Hertsmere, the percentage of satisfied residents living in Elstree & Borehamwood was only in the 50s. Now after 16 years of Tory control, the satisfaction figure is 84 per cent.

Yes there’s more to do. Of course there is. But this Conservative administration has steered Hertsmere through the toughest of financial times in a generation. In addition to the three-yearly independent and balanced survey of 1,000 residents, your council also carries out a participatory budgeting exercise, where we ask residents what services you want us to spend your money on. And we produce three editions a year of Hertsmere News so you know what is going on in our towns and communities across the borough.

The cost of these independent surveys and magazines is around £1 per home per year. The average home in Hertsmere pays £157 a year for the borough’s share of the council tax – and this has just been frozen for the sixth year. We feel spending less than 1 per cent of your money asking what you like or don’t like, what services you want more or less of and informing you regularly what we do and the decisions we take in your name is a good use of money.

And we will continue to ask you how you would like us to run services and protect our towns and communities.

We hope Labour will be part of that discussion, but if all they want to do is sit on the sidelines yelling and shouting and telling everyone how bad it is when clearly it isn’t, we’ll all just have to manage without them.

Cllr Morris Bright and Cllr Harvey Cohen

On behalf of Elstree & Borehamwood Conservatives