For instance, closing the six OAP day centres will save £415,000 over the next three years. But close examination of Haringey's payment records shows that, in the single month of December 2010 alone, the council spent £226,000 on "food and drink" and £83,000 on taxis. The council says the food and drink was mainly meals on wheels and school dinners. The taxis, it says, were mostly "contact and escort visits for looked-after children, and school runs". But, unlike some rural fastness, this London borough has abundant public transport. The council's spending on Tube travel, though, was just £13,000. What's more, the schools were on holiday for half of December – which is why it's perhaps surprising that both the food and drink bill, and the taxi one, were vastly higher that month than in November. Could the figures possibly include the odd staff Christmas sausage roll?