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BREAKING NEWS: County council to cut £33m of services

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Published Date:
05 November 2009
NOTTS County Council chiefs plan to slash £33m from major services, the Guardian can reveal.
A leaked report shows all departments will be forced to make cuts, which include selling off all 13 residential care homes, axing 410 jobs and closing day care centres.

Other proposed measures include ending the Weeks of Action initiative to save £410,000, cutting £5m to children's services and shutting four daycare centres across the county.

It has been stressed this will not affect plans for the new community hub on Memorial Avenue.

The council says it has to save £83m during the next three years.

Chief executive Mick Burrows insisted the the cuts were 'just proposals' at this stage and said people will have the opportunity to have their views heard until 22nd January 2010.

"Like every other council in the country, we face a huge challenge - how to provide good quality services and respond to the ever-growing demands for social care, while dealing at the same time with the worst recession in a generation," he said.

"We have done what we can to save money without directly affecting our service users. Although we are saving £33m, we will be investing an extra £31.1m of this saving directly back into caring for the most vulnerable people in Notts next year."

Coun Alan Rhodes, leader of the Labour opposition and Worksop county councillor, said the cuts news was 'a catastrophe'.

"This is totally unecessary and terrible news for anyone employed by the county council or who receives services from the authority," he said.

"Thirteen residential care homes are to be sold off over the next two years, which means James Hince Court and Westwood Care Home will be left very vulnerable."

"Manton has just enjoyed a very positive Week of Action but the council will be ending this initiative, which the most disadvantaged communities benefit from."

"This is an absolute catastrophe and the Labour group at County Hall will be doing everything in its powers to resist these changes."

A consultation is being launched to seek views on the proposed changes.

Visit www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/budgetforthefuture or write to Budget Consultation, NCC, Freepost NG428, Nottingham NG2 1BR

Alternatively find out more about how to respond by calling 08449 808 080.

For the full story read next Friday's Guardian.

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  • Last Updated: 05 November 2009 4:44 PM
  • Source: n/a
  • Location: Worksop
 
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1

Worksopboy,

WORKSOP 06/11/2009 15:03:49
i work for ncc and must admit im very nervous about the job cuts
2

Grahame Whitehurst,

Worksop 14/11/2009 10:55:35
So, after the mega-greedy pals of Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, Peter Mandelson and the Tories screw up the banking system, Nottinghamshire's Conservative Council decides to claw back the deficit by punishing the elderly and those who care for them.

Why am I not surprised?

I've got a novel idea, why don't we punish the bankers instead? Why don't we tax those who enriched themselves so fabulously at our expense? How about a 90% tax, backdated to 1979, when Thatcher’s government first began enfranchising the trough-gobblers? Imagine if all of those who had more than £10 million in the bank had to hand over 90% of the rest. Well, for example, your pipsqueak financier, who had only managed to hive off a £100 million, would get to keep £19 million of it. The rest would be handed over to such worthy causes as "residential care homes", "day care centres" and the people who work in them.

Let's face it, folks, 99.999 percent of the people on the planet would be over the moon if they woke up to find they had £19m in their bank account so, personally, I wouldn't have much sympathy for an investment banker, big businessman, private equity dealer or hedge fund manager whose lifestyle was compromised a little by the aforementioned proposal.

Of course, it's never going to happen. The mainstream politician is owned by such characters. Often, he owes his promotion and elevation to those who routinely rob us blind and see to it that Wall Street Crashes and 2008 world-wide recessions occur in the first place.

On 8 November 2009, The Sunday Times told us that:

"In 2007, (the year before the credit crunch) Goldman Sachs’ boss, Lloyd Blankfein, earned $68 million... Goldman’s profits in the second quarter of this year (a year after the credit crunch hit) were a record $3.4 BILLION."

That’s $3.4 billion in just three short months. At a time when many of us are really struggling. And this after our governmental betters had just bailed out the bankers with trillions upon tr
3

Grahame Whitehurst,

Worksop 14/11/2009 10:56:55
Continued...

And this after our governmental betters had just bailed out the bankers with trillions upon trillions of taxpayer cash!

THEY are laughing at us, ladies and gents. And THEY won't stop laughing until we start acting, as well as talking, tough.

If the Nottinghamshire County Council Tories don't want to be seen as latter-day Sheriffs of Nottingham, they should start leaning on David Cameron to ensure that the British Blankfeins pay their fair share and the care homes and day centres are left well alone.

Nottinghamshire’s New Labour Councillors should be leaning on Gordon Brown, who was the bankers’ bosom buddy for eleven long years, even harder.
4

Sarah Stonefield,

Carlton 14/11/2009 16:09:20
A "catastrophe", eh. Coun Alan Rhodes says so and he speaks for Labour. Why doesn't it sound right in my ears, I wonder... I'd like to thank Mr Whitehurst for his honest words. Finally somebody who speaks out.
5

Ewannic,

Worksop 22/11/2009 19:58:02
Grahame: "Nottinghamshire's Conservative Council decides to claw back the deficit by punishing the elderly and those who care for them."

These cuts have nothing to do with the national budget. The cuts are to fund a tax cut ("0% council tax rise").
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