Campaigners to protest at city council budget meeting

On Monday March 5th, Nottinghamshire Save Our Services (Notts SOS) will protest outside the Council House when Nottingham City Council meets to vote on its budget for 2012-13.

From 12.30pm-1.30pm, campaigners from the group will join with members of Nottingham City Unison, demonstrating against the cuts to jobs and services being voted through.

There will also be a protest for people coming from work at 5pm-7pm.

Protesters hope to present a petition against the council's cuts during the lunchtime demonstration.

The budget being discussed at the meeting includes a 3.49% council tax increase alongside 195 job cuts.

The council are looking at selling-off Portland Leisure Centre; closing two centres for older people, Marlstones Elderly Person’s Home in Bulwell and the Willows Centre in Beechdale; closing the Museum of Nottingham Life at Brewhouse Yard; cutting food waste collections and closing nine recycling centres; and reducing funding to Connexions, a support service for young people.

The council had also propsed reducing redundancy payments for laid-off staff to the legal minimum, but has subsequently withdrawn this proposal.

In total the council hope to save £20m to cover a shortfall arising from reduced government funding as a result of the coalition government's austerity drive.

The council has also said that this will not be the end to the cuts, with an additional £24m of cutbacks required by the end of the spring 2015.

Notts SOS believe that the cuts agenda is ideologically driven and are urging councillors to stand-up to central government.

Claire Taylor from Notts SOS said, "Council Leader Jon Collins and Deputy Leader Graham Chapman have been vocally critical of central government and often with good reason. Now it's time for them to put their money where their mouth is and refuse to pass the cuts onto the people of Nottingham. Even a single council refusing to implement a cuts budget would shake the coalition government."

Notes for editors

1. Notts SOS was set up in the autumn of 2010 to campaign and oppose all cuts to services in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. We have been fighting council cuts on many levels since then, including organising a 1,200 strong march to the city centre in November 2010.

ENDS