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Notts Cuts Watch #2

anon@indymedia.org (Concerned of Notts) | 24.10.2010 19:27

An (incomplete) overview of how the age of austerity has affected Notinghamshire over the last week or so.

Local councils

NOTTINGHAM City Council and Notts County Council both predict that next year will be their toughest of the next four as they face Government cuts.

Chancellor George Osborne said all councils would face a Government reduction of an average 7.1 per cent for each of the next four years.

But Nottingham City Council predicts it will face a 12 per cent cut in the first of these years.

And Coun Kay Cutts, leader of Notts County Council – which has already pledged to save £69 million next year based on an 8 per cent Government grant reduction – says they may now need to find an extra £5 million to £6 million, as they expect a 10.4 per cent reduction next year.

City council leader Jon Collins said the review’s detail showed councils will face toughest cuts in the first year of the four-year plan. He said: “The scale of the cuts will have an impact that people will see, there will be less services provided. You can’t balance the budget without affecting care services, children’s services, protective services.”

Spending Review: Councils predict next year will be the toughest, Nottingham Post

Nottinghamshire County Council

NOTTS County Council on Thursday voted to implement £75m worth of saving cuts over the next four years.

Councillors debated 164 proposals to help the authority save £150m and gave the green light to more than half.

The savings, known as ‘category A’ proposals, will be made shortly, while the rest will be put out to consultation.

During the day-long debate, Opposition councillors accused the Conservative leadership of imposing “chilling cuts” because they believed the private sector should do more.

Day-long debate over ‘chilling cuts’ at County Council, Nottingham Post

Public transport

BUS and rail passengers in Notts face price hikes as a result of the Government spending review.

Low-income rural bus services and evening and Sunday services will also come under threat as a 20 per cent reduction in subsidies from 2012 will make some unsustainable.

It comes as a double blow to passengers as Notts County Council recently announced it was reviewing all 290 bus services that it subsidises – saying that the private sector could fill the gap.

But the announcement that the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) would be cut by 20 per cent means there is even less chance private companies will be able to afford to step in.

David Thornhill, chairman of Notts Campaign for Better Transport, said: "A lot of bus operations are very marginal – on a knife-edge.

“Twenty per cent is quite a big cut and that will be sufficient to push them over into running at a loss and bus companies will withdraw those ones.”

Campaigners say an expected 8 per cent rise in regulated rail fares, which include season tickets, will also make train travel even more unaffordable.

At present the annual increases in regulated fares are capped at 1 per cent above the retail price index (RPI) inflation level. But Chancellor George Osborne said that from 2012 the cap will be RPI plus 3 per cent which, if introduced for next January, would mean season tickets going up almost 8 per cent.

Bus and rail passengers in Notts face price hikes due to spending review, Notingham Post

Housing

THE Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review will have a devastating impact on housing in Nottingham, Shelter has warned.

The charity claims the impact of slashing low-cost house-building and cuts to housing benefit, coupled with the lack of a long-term vision to solve the nation’s housing crisis, are likely to increase housing need in Nottingham.

Already the city is seeing nearly 9,400 households on housing waiting lists, with the average house price in Nottingham at £105,000, while the average salary is only £22,695.

Recent research has highlighted that some households in Nottingham will be an average of £56 a month worse off as a result of government cuts to Local Housing Allowance.

Shelter warns spending cuts will have devastating impact on Nottingham, Nottingham Post

Education

A SCHOOL will apply for academy status – despite many of its staff being opposed to the move.

Governors at Kirk Hallam School, Ilkeston, voted on the proposal at their meeting last Wednesday, following the recommendation of the head teacher.

If the school is successful in its bid to becomes an academy it would be run entirely by an appointed trust set up by its governors.

Ilkeston school to apply for academy status after close vote, Nottingham Post

Policing

NOTTS Police’s deputy chief constable, Chris Eyre, says the force faces tough challenges in the coming years in light of the Government Spending Review.

Government funding is to be slashed by 20 per cent over the next four years.

And the force will be further hit as other grants which fund police community service officers and neighbourhood schemes as well as other extras are also being cut.

“We won’t know the exact extent until December, but we have a team looking into how savings can be made,” said Mr Eyre. He added that at the same time as making savings, the force is looking at how it can continue to cut crime.

How the police will be effected by Spending Review, Nottingham Post

Voluntary sector

MANAGERS at Notts homeless charity Framework were left reeling after they were told the county council was considering cutting up to £15m from its Supporting People’s programme over the next four years.

Up to 400 jobs could go at the charity, which relies on the programme for 65 per cent of its income.

It was expecting £6.6 million next year, already down by £1m, but must now wait and see how much will arrive.

Nottinghamshire Voluntary and Community Sector Infrastructure Consortium Board, made up of various organisations, said the cuts would have “serious repercussions”.

Board member Fiona Simpson, said: “The voluntary sector in Notts is realistic of the need to trim budgets but the proposed £1.37 million of cuts to over 120 groups and organisations will have a devastating effect on a sector supporting the most disadvantaged people.”

The consortium said the cuts would end services which support those living with domestic violence and activities for older people.

On Thursday, PM Dave Cameron promised to get his housing minister to look at Notts County Council’s plans to slash spending on vulnerable people. Cameron and Nick Clegg visited Welbeck Primary School in The Meadows on the day after the “Comprehensive Spending Review,” then attended a question and answer session at George Spencer Academy and Technology College, in Stapleford.

Anger over county council cuts proposals as Notts charities face ‘devastation’, Nottingham Post
Cameron makes Notts charity pledge following council cuts, Nottingham Post

Campaigning

On Monday, 5-600 people gathered to protest pay cuts for school support staff.

The latest single status proposals will mean massive pay cuts for many school support staff. Some Teaching Assistants will lose as much as £7,000 per year – with no pay protection, meaning salaries will drop from April 2011.

Average pay cuts for TA’s would be 25%. Other staff would also lose pay and possibly annual leave.

Although the council have now agreed to delay the timetable for implementation to allow for more discussion with the trade unions, the proposals have not changed

Unison Demo Re: cuts for school support staff, Nottingham Indymedia

NOTTINGHAM residents went to 10 Downing Street on Wednesday in a bid to urge David Cameron not to slash funding for council house improvements.

Three Nottingham City Homes tenants handed over a petition with more than 1,000 signatures calling for continued investment in refurbishing council houses.

It follows news that the Secure, Warm, Modern programme, which is replacing thousands of old windows, bathrooms, kitchens and heating systems in city council houses, is under threat.

There were fears that the £165 million scheme, expected to run until 2013, could be scrapped or reduced, following Thursday’s spending review.

Nottingham residents take campaign for home improvements to Downing Street, Nottingham Post

Youth Fight for Jobs held a national day of protest on October 20th to tell the government loud and clear that they do not agree with the cuts. They especially want to organise young people – whether workers, students or unemployed – into a campaign to defeat the ConDem cuts package.

‘Youth Fight for Jobs’ on the Notts SOS Market Square demonstration on 20th October, Notts SOS

On Thursday October 21st, Notts County Unison organised a demonstration at County Hall, West Bridgford against the cuts advocated by the Tory-led authority. Coming the day after the Coalition Government’s “Comprehensive Spending Review,” the event attracted around 500 people, a mixture of council workers, service users, campaigners and local residents.

County Hall anti-cuts protest, Nottingham Indymedia


anon@indymedia.org (Concerned of Notts)
- http://nottingham.indymedia.org.uk/articles/613