Struggling council spends £90,000 on child reflexology

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Opposition councillors in Lambeth have argued the cash is inappropriate when cuts are being made elsewhere.

The council has overspent its culture services budget by £1.5million leading to a freeze on all non-essential maintenance.

Lib-Dem councillor Julian Heather said this had resulted in fountains being turned off in parks, including the one in front of Lambeth Palace.

The budget to buy new library books has also shrunk from £400,000 to £180,000, making it the smallest in London.

The council's housing management department faces job losses and there have been cuts in painting and the decoration of council homes. Mr Heather said: "We don't know how such a big overspend has happened. People are becoming very frustrated.

"Parks are literally being left to wither on the vine except in health and safety situations.

"Libraries, parks and leisure centres will all suffer and we've also got a problem with the housing budget where too many houses are being rented on long-term contracts and we don't have enough people to fill them.

"It's crazy to be spending so much money on reflexology."

A council spokeswoman said the money came out of a separate budget from those used for housing or leisure facilities.

Paul McGlone, Lambeth's cabinet member for children and young people, said: "It's incredibly important that we address young people's behavioural problems and we make no apologies for using different and innovative methods, but this obviously won't replace more traditional ways of dealing with antisocial behaviour.

"We have just pumped an extra £2million into youth services overall."

Reflexology involves massaging, squeezing, or pushing on parts of the feet, or sometimes the hands and ears, with the goal of encouraging a beneficial effect on other parts of the body.

Nicola Hall from the British Reflexology Association said: "There is no hard evidence to say it works on children with behavioural difficulties, but I have heard and seen results. It works by using the child's energy system."