Cuts hit-list: How the axe could fall

Published: 10th December, 2010
by TERRY MESSENGER

A CONFIDENTIAL Town Hall report (CLICK HERE FOR A COPY OF THE REPORT) leaked to the Tribune outlines devastating plans to dismantle public services in Islington.

It warns of increased numbers of children in care, a rise in youth crime and a deterioration in services for elderly and disabled people.

The report drawn up by council officials lists 202 proposals to axe services and increase charges to help the borough live within a budget expected to be drastically reduced by the coalition government in a settlement due to be announced next week.

It is believed the document was seen by Islington Council’s Labour political leadership before being passed to backbench members.

A Town Hall source said: “Whoever leaked it to the press may have done Labour a favour because it will open up the subject to debate.” It is the second leak within a week, following the unauthorised release of a council report listing nearly 300 proposed job cuts. 

Ruling Labour councillors will now decide which of the proposals to proceed with before a full council meeting on February 17 finalises next year’s budget. Over the next 10 weeks they are likely to be bombarded by anti-cuts pleas from union branches, service users and community groups.

The leaked document – marked “confidential” – proposes savings and fees increases totalling £22.5million, with more than half the cuts falling on children’s services and the housing and adult social services department. It recommends scaling back payments to foster parents and making redundancies among child protection and hospital social workers and those helping care leavers.

The report warns that this could result in foster parents being unable to cope with difficult children, a potential increase in family breakdown and a rise in the number of children in care. It also says there could be a reduced ability to safeguard unborn children and those in hospital and accident and emergency, and a “deterioration in service to children with disabilities”.

Grants to poorer families for school uniforms are also under threat.

The document proposes reductions in advice and support services for young people, particularly hitting preventative work. It warns of “a likely increase in the rates of young people entering the youth justice system for the first time” and says there could be “no capacity to provide services directly in schools”.

The report also points to a possible increase in the number of young people not in education, employment and training.

It proposes that the elderly and disabled would lose home-help shopping, laundry and cleaning services – and asks the voluntary sector to help out but acknowledges that such organisations might not want to.

Christmas lights may be axed from next year and toilets in Chapel Market in Angel are ­earmarked for closure.

The report warns of likely “negative publicity” resulting from the loss of the lights, toilets and home-help services. 

The union shop steward at the Connexions advice service for young people – hardest hit of all in the proposed cuts – warned this week that vulnerable young people are more likely to drop out of school, turn to crime and become homeless without help from him and his colleagues.

Connexions runs teams of youth advisors who specialise in helping young offenders, exclu­ded students, teenage parents, youngsters with learning difficulties and children in care. Forty-four out of 56 Connexions posts are due to be axed, with staff invited to apply for the 12 that would be left under the proposed cuts. 

Unison shop steward Dean Ryan said: “The Connexions brand is very recognisable among young people. We engage with them in a different, non-judgemental way as advocates rather than authority figures like police and social workers.

“We help them get jobs, training and housing. Without us, some of them are going to fall through the net.”

Mike Calvert, deputy branch secretary of Islington Unison with responsibility for children’s services, urged the council to save the social work team based at Whittington Hospital in Archway from proposed job cuts. He said a social worker responsible for informing social services about children at risk of domestic violence in neighbouring Haring­ey – where Baby P died – would no longer be employed.   

The council is planning to slice about £50m from its budget for next year as the first tranche of cuts in a four-year programme which could see spending reduced by as much as 40 per cent.

The ruling Labour group’s finance chief Cllr Richard Greening said: “There are no finalised plans for the budget and we are doing all we can to stand up for people in Islington, but whatever happens the government cuts forced on Islington will be horrible.” 

Government cuts had hit children’s services particularly hard, he said. Under the Labour government they had got lots of special grants.

Lib Dem opposition group leader Councillor Terry Stacy claimed that Labour had needlessly targeted the poor and vulnerable. He mapped out an alternative strategy to protect vital services within available resources.

He recommended large-scale outsourcing of services to voluntary organisations as an alternative, arguing: “They can do it cheaper and better in most cases. The salary levels are lower and they have less overheads and red tape.”

He recommended great­er cuts in the council’s communications department, arguing: “There’ll be more staff in the ‘department of propaganda’ unit than fighting anti-social behaviour in the community safety sections.” 

He also slammed increased parking charges, claiming they would hit businesses.

• A march to defend 300 threatened Town Hall jobs will be staged on Wednesday, starting from Highbury Fields at 4pm, and ending with a rally at the Town Hall. The protest was announced by Islington Hands Off Our Public Services Coalition in Holloway on Wednesday. 

Where some of the cuts may fall

 

Officials have proposed 202 service cuts and increases in fees for services totalling £22.5million, including:    

• Reductions in services to prevent youth offending, totalling £424,000.
• No more staff in adventure playgrounds – £63,000.
• Reductions in cash support, recruitment and guidance for foster parents – £296,000.
• Abolition of on site social work service at Whittington Hospital – £53,000
• Deletion of child protection manager post – £88,000.
• No more council cash for Christmas lights – £45,000.
• Closure of public toilets in Chapel Market, Angel, and at Old Street with redundancy for attendants – £100,000. 
• Increases in parking charges, raising £1.4million.
• Cut in business advice – £40,000.
• Delete street trading officer post risking return of contraband tobacco vendors at the Nag’s Head, Holloway – £45,000.
• Stop providing shopping, laundry and cleaning (domestic support) for older people – £150,000.
• Stop paying for families to visit relatives with learning disabilities in out of borough placements – £10,000.