Last Wednesday Bury Council made a few headline changes to its drastic set of budget cuts, no doubt hoping to be supported and praised as a listening council. The concessions make very little difference.
Bury Action Group always knew we were in for a long fight over cuts. Our organising meeting next Tuesday at the Met Theatre at 7pm will plot the way forward for the next few months. New members are welcome to attend.
One concession came directly from the Tories: transport to school for children with special needs was reinstated. Congratulations to the vigorous campaign from parents which put this at the top of the agenda and made it impossible to ignore.
Other changes appeared in a Lib Dem amendment near the end of the council meeting, but were welcomed by the Tories, begging the question as to why they threatened to make the cuts in the first place. The people of Prestwich will welcome yet another reprieve for the Longfield suite, the continuation of Sunday opening at the library and the removal of car parking charges.
Lib Dem publicity claims that ‘the future of Local Area Partnerships is Secure’. This is because that same amendment saved the jobs of three of the six Local Area Managers. It also said they should be ‘redesignated into community work’ – whatever that means. So the three remaining managers not only have to do twice as much work, they also have to cope with a drastic change to the nature of their job. We supported their role in maintaining what remains of local democracy and promoting voluntary work in their areas and we suspect these have not been protected.
The big headline cut that has not been reversed is the decimation of the youth service. It is incredible that the Council can blithely go ahead with this attack on the future of our society. We hope they listen to Youth Parliament campaigns in the next few months or we will feel the effects of an alienated generation for a long time to come.
These cuts are the easiest to identify. Others hidden in the small print of the rushed budget exercise could have equally drastic effects. Cuts to the adult care budget make many vulnerable people less independent and less safe. Cuts to adult education and the ranger service will impoverish all our lives and reduce participation in voluntary activity. School crossing patrols at lights are still being withdrawn. We could go on.
Bury Action Group will monitor the impact of all these cuts and continue to protest, making future cuts harder and harder to make.
Group member, George Heron commented:
Playing about with figures within the coalition settlement cannot meet Bury’s needs. The cuts have to be stopped. We must protest as loudly as we can locally until our councillors really represent us and argue with national government, not simply quietly do its bidding.
Many of us will be on the national demonstration in London, and there will be more local and regional action as well. Come to the organising meeting at the Met Theatre at 7pm on Tuesday 1st March to show your solidarity and help us plan.
Bury Action Group has an e-mail address: buryactiongroup@gmail.com and a Facebook page. You can contact George Heron on 0161 798 8762.
NOTE FOR EDITORS:
1. George Heron is available to provide further information on 0161 798 8762 / 07837 614405 and possible links with other members of the group.
2. The quotation from ‘Lib Dem publicity’ in the fourth paragraph comes from their ward newsletter: ‘Sedgley Ward Focus’.
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