TRAFFORD'S Labour and Conservative councillors continue to disagree about the borough's budget.

As reported in Messenger last week, Labour has accused the ruling Conservative group of 'losing control' of the budget, following the announcement that the council's predicted 2014/2015 shortfall is closer to £7 million than the previously predicted £6 million.

And the Conservatives also faced criticism from parents after changes were made to Special Needs Education (SEN) transport provision, which Labour has labelled a 'shambles'.

However, the leader of the council and Trafford Conservatives, Sean Anstee, has claimed Labour's criticism is 'irresponsible'.

Cllr Anstee said: "The council has not made any change to its policy on eligibility criteria for accessing home to school transport provision for vulnerable children and takes its responsibilities seriously.

"We recognise that the organisational changes implemented over the summer have caused distress for some families and the council has worked hard to rectify any identified issues speedily and to a satisfactory conclusion.

"We believe that the changes will enable a high standard of service to be maintained in the future, whilst also ensuring value for money for Trafford taxpayers.

"It is not acceptable for the Labour party to continue saying they recognise the need for savings, without ever putting forward any credible alternatives.

"That is irresponsible and would cause further strain on all council services in future."

But the Labour group has called on the council leader to apologise to families affected by the disruption.

Labour councillor for Sale Moor, Mike Freeman, said: "Whilst we understand the need for the council to make savings and cuts to balance an already out of control budget, this should not be at the expense of our most vulnerable children in the borough.

"The Tories boast Trafford under their control represents the best start in life for your child.

"This is hollow when we are discovering parents/carers and professional teaching staff were not kept informed of the changes and can evidence that the needs of the children were clearly the lowest priority in the re-tendering process.

"Further it is apparent that some contracts with compensation clauses have been wrongly awarded so the process is costing the council money.

"This has been a total shambles and the Conservative executive member needs to apologise to the families in Trafford this has caused upset to."