A former councillor has denounced a public consultation on £70 million budget cuts as a “silly game”.

Haringey Borough Council is holding consultation meetings over forthcoming cuts after announcing it has to save £70 million over the next three years.

The consultation, called Investing in Our Tomorrow, aims to find out which public services people think matter most, and is run in partnership with Haringey Association of Voluntary and Community Organisations (Havco).

But Alan Stanton, a former Labour councillor for Tottenham Hale, said he did not see the point of the consultation, which he believes would fill people with "horror".

He said: “I don’t understand what they expect people to say. It’s a silly game. People aren’t going to tell them that they want less street cleaning, or more cuts to social services. No one has any idea what the impact will be. No one is telling anyone, they’re just asking very broad questions.

“With another £70million of cuts, what input are local people supposed to have, except express their horror? They understand the implications for schools and elderly services, never mind street cleaning. People are very worried.

“I can’t imagine £70million worth of cuts. I find it hard to get my head around what it entails, so the idea of asking local people vacuous questions is weird. Unless you know exactly what has been cut, what is about to be cut, and what the implications will be, what are people supposed to say?”

Mr Stanton, who was a councillor for 16 years, attended one of the consultations at Coombes Croft Library last Wednesday.

He said: “It was supposed to be at 11am. We got there early and no one else was there. Nobody had booked a room, and there seemed to be no attempts at setting it up.

“A bloke turned up at around 11.25am looking flustered. They were trying to work out where he could go. He had a banner and a laptop. I don’t want to have a go at him, he was doing his best.”

A Haringey Council spokesman said: “We want to see as many people as possible take part in the Investing in Our Tomorrow conversation, which is why we have teamed up with HAVCO for an extensive programme of community engagement right across the borough.

“Throughout October, we’ll be visiting locations including parks, libraries, community hubs, children’s centres and neighbourhood meetings – going to places where our communities gather, so that people have the opportunity to get involved without having to go out of their way.

“Early feedback has been very positive, with lots of people showing an interest in the roadshows and taking time to watch the film and share their views. We look forward to meeting lots more Haringey residents during the coming weeks.”