Cuts and financial u-turns in Nottinghamshire

April 22, 2010 at 9:51 pm | Posted in Midlands | Comments Off
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Tory-run Nottinghamshire Council cuts has passed £28.7million cuts.  The council was previously forced to reverse £4.6 million of their proposed £33.3million cuts.

Over 30,000 local residents responded to their consultation, of which only 24 supported their cutback proposals.

The cuts will include:

  • £800,000 slashed from residential care homes
  • Meals on wheels – currently cost £2.35 a meal will cost £3.95 by April 2011
  • £150,000 slashed from Welfare Rights
  • Sale of residential care homes -  the sale of the council’s 13 residential care homes has been confirmed
  • Cancellation of concessionary fares for elderly & disabled people and their carers cancelled before 9.30am

This is another example of the Tories saying and doing another when on the Conservative website, they say,

“We need to help those elderly people who are amongst the most vulnerable in our society.”

but are pushing through cuts to the most vulnerable.

Left Foot Forward have also been following this latest example of a Tory council saying one thing and then doing another.

Unison (East Midlands) have been campaigning against the cuts and provided Nottinghamshire County Council with an alternative plan.

Cutting funding for young people in the Midlands

April 22, 2010 at 12:52 pm | Posted in Midlands | Comments Off
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David Cameron says,

“We need strong families, we need youth clubs, we need things to divert people away from crime”.

His councils tell a different story, like Coventry and Wolverhampton.

In Coventry, the Tories have scrapped 14 children’s clubs and play schemes.

Tory-led Wolverhampton has cut seven youth workers with another £346,000 cuts planned to youth services.

Cuts in Wolverhampton target the elderly and the vulnerable

April 22, 2010 at 7:48 am | Posted in Midlands | Comments Off
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The Tory/Lib Dem leadership of Wolverhampton Council has passed a budget taking a decision to go for full cost recovery for all but the most basic of public services.  This is hitting families and vulnerable people with charges they can’t afford for services they need.

In September 2009, Wolverhampton Council proposed a new round of £7.6 million spending cuts on top of the £14.3 million they had already proposed in February 2009.

The cuts and hike in charges include:

• Hot meal charges for the elderly to be raised by a whopping 83% in total

• Cremation fees will rise 6%, internment fees by 5% and grave lease fees by 50%.

• Cuts of £300K in the Youth Service and £46k in community play.

• Closure of the Visitor Information Centre in Queens Square.

• Cuts of £200K in grants to Voluntary Sector Neighbourhood and Community Safety.

• Reduction in opening hours of Anchor Lane and Shaw Road Civic Amenity sites.

• Merry Hill and Langley Court Day Centres for the elderly to be closed.

• Blakenhall Resource Centre, a respite centre for older people with mental health needs, to be privatised.

Information provided by Councillor Roger Lawrence, Leader of the Labour Group, Wolverhampton Council

No respect for Coventry’s elderly

April 22, 2010 at 7:45 am | Posted in Midlands | Comments Off
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The Conservative Party website says,

“We need to help those elderly people who are amongst the most vulnerable in our society.”

Under the Tories in Coventry, elderly and disabled residents will pay 40% more for services such as home care and meals on wheels.

Cuts in Coventry hit the most vulnerable

April 22, 2010 at 7:44 am | Posted in Midlands | Comments Off
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Tory-run Coventry City Council has consistently hit the most vulnerable with cuts and hefty increases in charges.

In the budgets for 2007/08 and 2008/9, charges for meals on wheels increased by 60% and over half a million pounds was withdrawn from the councils budget to promote independence for older people.

They also tried to close workshops for people with learning difficulties and reduced the budget for children leaving care by £150,000 whilst stopping before and after  school clubs.

The Tories are hitting the most vulnerable with charges they can’t afford for services they need.

Saying one thing, doing another in Walsall

April 21, 2010 at 2:30 pm | Posted in Midlands | Comments Off
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On the Conservative’s website they say,

“We need to help those elderly people who are amongst the most vulnerable in our society.”

But Tory-run Walsall council has voted to cut more than £5million from adult social services funding.  They have so far not let on where the cuts will fall.

Shadow Minister for Women, Theresa May, says she,

“Welcomes any measures to make it easier for (women) to get on with their lives free from abuse.”

David Cameron says he wants to,

“Create a supportive funding environment for volunteer-based charities and community groups.”

But Walsall Tories have slashed funding by £77k for a domestic violence unit that has reduced violent incidents by 12% in 2009.

The Conservatives say that they are,

“Committed to fostering an environment in which sport can flourish.”

But the  Walsall Tory budget for 2010-11 which is likely to force Willenhall Leisure Centre to close.

Walsall Tories are also cutting the opening hours to public toilets in the borough  resulting in shorter opening hours.

Tories are saying one thing nationally and another locally.

Information provided by Councillor Tim Oliver, Leader of the Labour Group, Walsall Council.

52 Tory-run councils have not signed up to free swimming

April 20, 2010 at 6:46 pm | Posted in London, Midlands, Nationwide, North East, North West, South East, South West, Yorkshire and the Humber | Comments Off
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52 Tory-run councils have not signed up to the Government’s scheme to provide free swimming for children and pensioners.

As the Tory Leader of Southampton Council, Alec Samuels says:

“We do not in principle favour ‘free this and free that’, such as swimming or transport, school meals or computers or whatever it is.”

Conservative Councils are choosing not to provide services for dogmatic reasons.

 

Councils not taking part in the free swimming scheme as of 15 December 2009:

Adur
Arun
Ashford
Basildon
Basingstoke & Deane
Bournemouth
Bromley
Chelmsford
Christchurch
Crawley
Dacorum
Dartford
East Devon
East Dorset
East Northamptonshire
East Riding of Yorkshire
Fareham
Forest of Dean
Hambleton
Harlow
Harrogate
Havant
Hertsmere
Horsham
Ipswich
Isle of Wight
Lichfield
Maidstone
Maldon
Mendip
Mid Sussex
North Hertfordshire
Nuneaton & Bedworth
Poole
Rochford
Rossendale
Scarborough
Sedgemoor
Sevenoaks
South Northamptonshire
South Oxfordshire
Swale
Tandridge
Test Valley
Tonbridge & Malling
Torridge
Trafford
Tunbridge Wells
West Oxfordshire
West Somerset
Westminster
Weymouth & Portland
Worthing

Cuts in scrutiny across the country

April 20, 2010 at 12:48 pm | Posted in London, Midlands, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber | Comments Off
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David Cameron says that he wants to,

“Make our politics more local, more transparent and more accountable”

But Tory Councils are cutting the committees that examine council policy and make councils accountable to the taxpayer.

The Tories running Lancashire County Council have reduced the number of scrutiny officials employed by the council by 40%.  They will also scrap the ‘Lancashire Locals’ at the end of March.  This will scrap five local committees resulting in local residents having to take a round trip of up to 50 miles to attend meetings and find out what is happening.

In Bradford, spending on scrutiny was reduced by 25% between 2007/8 and 2008/9.

In Tory-run Croydon, the council have cut two of the committees which examine council spending whilst keeping staffing levels lower than under the previous Labour council and is holding posts vacant.

In Tory Southampton, the council is cutting two of the committees which examine council spending.

Tory-Lib Dem Birmingham Council  proposed to stop distributing council papers at meetings.   Committees would no longer give papers to members of the public or journalists making it impossible for anyone attending a meeting to follow what was happening.   The council was eventually forced into an embarassing u-turn.

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