HARINGEY Council is slashing its social services budget but is being bailed out by central government funds.o

In the wake of the Victoria Climbie public inquiry the authority heralded an investment in children's services earlier this month totalling almost £1m.

But council chiefs have actually decided to slash the authority's overall social services budget by £80,000.

The government will then foot the bill through one-off grants from its central council budget in the form of £200,000 for children's services plus another £500,000 for people leaving care.

The council's opposition leader Lynne Featherstone (Lib Dem) blasted the ruling Labour group's calculations for the coming year.

She said: "This is a 'Live now, pay later' budget from Haringey Labour. It is riddled with inconsistencies and holes.

"To make the sums add up, time and again, Labour promises to 'rationalise' one thing, 'redefine' another, without really knowing how these bland assumptions can be achieved. It is a triumph of optimism over reality."

A spokesman for the council said that this was a budget package which concentrated council funds on the politicians' priorities.

The spokesman explained: "It is a bit of moving around and extra funding is coming in. It does reflect members' priorities towards services at the moment."