Labour Group Leader Jo Lovelock says the effects of the Conservatives’ budget cuts on Reading’s children and their mismanagement of the grants process for voluntary groups are the priorities on which Labour will force debate at the Council’s budget meeting on Tuesday.
Labour in Reading believes the Council should work with our communities and local organisations and build on what is already delivering results. Reading has successful, improving schools and a thriving voluntary sector, but the Conservative’s lacklustre budget proposals risk throwing away the progress made in areas like reducing truancy and supporting vulnerable families. It is hardly surprising that local people are protesting the threat this budget poses to services like the Whitley Excellence Cluster and the Welfare Rights Unit.
Jo Lovelock says: “The Conservative-led Government has imposed a huge budget cut on people in Reading, much greater than on neighbouring areas where there is much less need. That cut has been accepted without protest by the Conservative-led Council. The Labour Group will show that a more imaginative approach can be taken to provide much needed support.
“Our amendments are examples of how a different approach to the budget could have been pursued: one that listens to local people’s concerns, recognises the services that people value and supports a positive vision for Reading’s future. The Conservative-led council has simply slashed services to meet their Government’s demands, with no consideration of the impact.”
With significant reductions in staffing levels planned across the council, Labour are proposing corresponding reductions in the highest levels of management. This could achieve a saving of at least half a million pounds which would be used to support children and young people, in those areas with highest needs.
Labour will also challenge the major flaws in the budget’s new grants process. There has been no process of applying for grants this year, no right of appeal when funding has being threatened and no assessment of the impact of the cuts on different communities. Well-established and increasingly needed groups will be unable to continue. Labour have listened to the wide ranging concerns of the voluntary sector, including last week’s RCRE public meeting, and we are calling for a halt in the process until proper arrangements have been made.
Jo Lovelock concluded: “We shouldn’t be starting from here and these amendments alone will not repair the damage being done to Reading by the Conservative-led coalitions, but they show the direction Labour would take to protect the services that make a difference and that people value.”
|
