On Wednesday night around 300 protesters lobbied Lambeth councillors to vote against the Labour-led budget. The demonstration was organised by a wide coalition of groups in the borough, including public service and voluntary sector workers facing redundancy, disabled people, youth workers, pensioners and others who rely on the continuation of vital services.
As the scale of the protest became clear, the councillors retreated to an adjoining room to vote through the cuts while demonstrators occupied the council chamber and held our own People’s Assembly.
It was an impressive example of people power. The scale of the demonstration and the enormous support from people passing by will have sent a potent message to the council, and perhaps also to Parliament.
But the draconian budget was passed all the same and now we face a long, hard struggle to protect vital services in the face of massively reduced budgets.
What is getting cut?
- More than 800 of the council's 3,500 jobs
- The entire park ranger service
- The school crossing patrol service, serving 24 schools
- Durning, Waterloo, Carnegie and Minet libraries, plus two mobile libraries
- Youth clubs, adventure playgrounds and the Young and Safe programme, which combats youth crime
- All but one public toilet facility
- Regeneration, management and repair on housing estates
- Adult social care and discretionary freedom passes for adults with mental health problems
- Street cleaning and repairs
- The noise nuisance service
- The Faith Engagement Programme
What is the alternative? - Bring the failing Lambeth Living ALMO (the external housing management firm) back in house, saving millions
- Cut all senior management pay – the chief executive earns £270k a year, enough to staff an entire library!
- Reduce council fuel bills by making our schools, libraries and other buildings more energy efficient
- Reduce the millions spent on expensive private-sector consultants
- Use council reserves to reduce the impact of the front-loading of the cuts and allow time to make improvements
- Cut down on glossy PR and council spin
- Work more closely with other public sector bodies to cut admin costs
Join us in Brixton this Saturday 30th October to protest against the coalition government's brutal cuts. These cuts are unprecedented in scale, will wreck local services and will hit the poorest hardest.
The demonstration - in Windrush Square, central Brixton, from 12:30 - has been called by Lambeth Save Our Services, Right to Work, NUT, Unison, UCU, Lambeth Pensioners and Lambeth Green Party.
Greens are strongly opposed to the government's cuts programme. We take the deficit seriously, but rather than getting the economy back on its feet the government's plans risk making things much worse by putting huge numbers of people out of work, reducing vital services and making the poorest and most vulnerable people pay most.
Instead of cutting vital services the Council could make savings in the following areas:
- Reducing salaries for top council executives - A number of senior council employees are paid more than £100,000 per year. Greens say the public sector cannot afford to pay such exorbitant salaries at a time when vital services are under threat
- Saving money by conserving energy - Big cash savings are possible if we make our schools, libraries and other council buildings more energy efficient
- Reducing administrative and management costs by co-operating with other public sector services
- Reducing money spent on expensive consultants, glossy PR and spin
Read more about the Green Party's policies on the cuts here.
Lambeth has the most expensive Home Care in London. Prices have risen from £7.55 per hour to £17.50. Undeterred by this, Labour are now talking about raising charges again in September, to £20, taking yet more money from those who can least afford it. The Liberal Democrat and Green members of the council are calling for a reduction to £10 per hour, paying for it with money from a recent windfall. The Motion will only be carried if all Backbenchers attend and vote plus 15 Labour councillors vote for it too
Councillor Becca Thackray said:"I am delighted to support the cross-party resolution to reduce charges to £10 in the light of Lambeth Council being allowed to keep £23 million held in Council reserves until 2006.
I do so out of my experience witnessing ‘bed-blocking’ as a nurse when patients cannot go home till care provision is in place, as a carer for my late parents, and for all the reasons below which I have uttered in support of Lambeth SOS campaign."Home_Care_Charges_08.docIf you want to support this resolution, write to your Ward Councillors and ask them which way they are planning on voting
