5 March 2012 

Meeting 12:30 in the Market Square, people gathered to protest Nottingham City Council plan to shave yet another £20m of the budget for thier provision of public services.

Nottingham City Council met to agree its budget for 2012-13. The council is planning £20m of cuts among the proposals which were discussed:

increase council tax by 3.49%

encourage staff to volunteer to reduce their hours from 37 to 35 hours a week

realign management and cut 195 jobs

close the Museum of Nottingham Life (Brewhouse Yard), except for group and school visits

close two centres for older people, Marlstones Elderly Person’s Home in Bulwell and the Willows Centre in Beechdale

sell-off Portland Leisure Centre

cut food waste collection and close nine recycling sites

reduce funding to Connexions, a support service for young people

A petition was to be presented to council officials.  However, Cllr Norris was to have public received it, but ran away inside the council house before it could be presented. Protestors jeered!  No other councillor found it possible to explain their position.

Another report on the events of the day:

Protest against Notttingham City Council budget

http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/2452

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PRESS RELEASE Notts Save Our Services 1st March 2012

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.

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council had also proposed reducing redundancy payments for laid-off staff to the legal minimum, but has subsequently withdrawn this proposal.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

Contacts

Email: nottssos@gmail.com

Website: http://nottssos.org.uk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nottssos

Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/nottssosfb

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

Notts SOS

http://nottssos.org.uk

Nottingham City Unison

http://nottinghamcityunison.org.uk

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ALAN LODGE 

Photographer - Media: One Eye on the Road. Nottingham.  UK

Email:                 tash@indymedia.org

Web:                   http://digitaljournalist.eu

Member of the National Union of Journalists [NUJ]

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"It is not enough to curse the darkness.

                                   It is also necessary to light a lamp!!"

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