Cumbria's £50m budget cut proposals: The services under threat

Vulnerable children could be the hardest hit following plans to cut £50m from Cumbria’s services over the next four years.

Around £32m of grants for young people and 300 jobs in children’s services could be scrapped in the council’s 2011 budget.

Cumbria's drastic budget proposals – made to cope with an expected £43 million reduction in funds from central Government plus a 45 per cent cut in capital funding – were reported on the Westmorland Gazette website on Monday.

Families using Sure Start nurseries, young people using the Connexions youth service and families with disabled children could be the most severely affected if the council’s proposals are passed in February.

Dave Armstrong of council workers’ union Unison said: “We are very worried about children’s services.

"They are our most vulnerable and the cuts to this area look like they are going to be huge.”

Council spokesman Gareth Cosslett said children were a priority and the cuts to grants were in response to money being pulled by central government. The authority’s own children’s budget would only be ‘marginally’ cut.

Half of all the savings will be made in 2011, with 611 posts likely to be lost, if all of the proposals are agreed by council.

Unison claimed posts would be lost across all of the directorates – almost five per cent of the 9,500 workforce.

Council leader Eddie Martin said: “It simply will not be possible to go on delivering as much as we do at the moment.

"As the coalition government takes steps to repay its national deficit we know the level of funding the council receives from the government will reduce significantly. There are prickly decisions to make.”

The council hopes to save £7.7 million from direct funding to services and £38.2 million by reducing its grants in 2011/12.

Major proposals include:

• £3 million cut to adult social care budget, forcing cuts to day services for older people and domiciliary care.

• £3 million cut to environmental services, forcing the closure of recycling centres.

• £400,000 cuts to the fire service would reduce staffing and require firefighters to be on-call for 96 hours at a time.

• £13 million grant cut to Sure Start nurseries.

• Introduction of on-street parking charges in 12 towns and tourist hotspots.

• A rural bus subsidy worth £1.7 million.

A 12-week public consultation period asking people what services they would like to keep is now under way.

“We will carefully consider the public’s feedback to this consultation before we make any final decisions,” said council leader Mr Martin.

“We have never had such a magnitude of change thrust upon us before and it’s only right that the Cumbrian public are allowed to have some influence on the change. I hope to see hundreds, if not thousands of responses.”

The proposal has also come under fire for presenting people with an impossible choice.

Spokesman for council workers union Unite Alan McGuckin said: "It's easy the public to dismiss what they see as faceless groups but what they are being asked to choose between are our cleaners, carers and those who look after the highways.

"Ultimately it's the responsibility of council officers to decide how to save funds - they shouldn't hide under the fig leaf of a public consultation."

Graham Vincent, economic prosperity portfolio holder for South Lakeland District Council said he understood the county council faced unprecedented financial pressure from central government but thought the proposal document could be confusing.

“It is very difficult for people who don’t have an intimate knowledge of the services the county council deliver to chose which ones they think need saving. It’s hard to judge the value of the ramifications of the council’s proposed cuts.”

Care cuts

A full-time carer has called Cumbria County Council’s proposed cuts to home care and day services a huge betrayal of vulnerable people.

Judith Potter feeds, washes and cares for husband Jeremy, who suffers from advanced dementia and cannot live independently.

The pair live at Sedbergh and, although Mrs Potter is unpaid, she gives 24 hour support to her husband.

He uses a day care centre on three days a week – and she says this 18 hours of respite is the only break she can get.

The council’s latest proposals suggest it will slash more than £3m from its services to adults and older people next year, reducing money for home care, support for the vulnerable, and for transport and day services.

Mrs Potter fears the change will tip carers like her over the edge.

She said: “This has been a huge betrayal and the most vulnerable people are being affected.

“It’s fine for mealy-mouthed politicians to talk about how we all have to suffer in difficult financial times but some are suffering a lot more than others.

“Older people should be treated with respect but, today, the most needy are being neglected.

Mrs Potter, a trained nurse, said it was difficult to cope with the relentless pressure that being a full-time carer entailed.

“Sometimes Jeremy will wake up at night and try to leave the house - he doesn’t understand what he wants. Often, I don’t get any sleep and when I go to bed I wonder how long it will be before Jeremy has got up again.

“I’ve been a full-time carer for ten years. Constantly looking after a family member restricts your whole life - even leaving the house is impossible because Jeremy can’t cope with the cold and can’t walk far.

“At times I’m at cracking point - Jeremy’s time in day care is the only break I get and it keeps me sane. I need the support.”

Bus cuts

Cumbria plans to cut the £1.7 million rural bus subsidy grant which funds 109 services in Cumbria.

Bus service costs around £3 million a year to run with the county council spending £250,000 from its own budget.

Bob Dickie of the Kendal and District Bus Users Group said he expected Cumbria’s bus services to take a hit in the proposed cuts but was surprised to hear how much money could be pulled from services.

“Rural bus services which are essential but have a low level of usage are clearly engangered,“ he said.

He added that a lot of people were reliant on rural buses to attend hospital appointments and hospital transport would have to fill the void left by disbanded services.

“Cutting buses will have an impact elsewhere and it’s possible hospital transport will feel the strain of transporting patients in rural areas.”

The group will now be lobbying the county council to maintain as many bus services in South Lakeland as possible.

Environment cuts

£3.5 million cuts to spending on the environment could lead to the closure or reduced opening hours at 14 recycling centres in the county and the removal of recycling payments to charities.

John Barwise, chair of Cumbria Green Business Forum, described the proposals to cut spending as ‘short sighted’.

“For the council to reduce its environmental budget by such a large amount sends out entirely the wrong message to local people and businesses who have been doing their up most to improve their performance,” he said.

He fears that a potential closure of recycling centres could demotivate people and lead to an increase of waste in landfills and fly-tipping.

“The council is fined if the tonnage of rubbish going into landfill exceeds a certain amount and I worry that by making it harder to recycle, landfill waste will increase and threaten the council’s own position,” he said.

He described plans to cut credit payments to charities as ‘severely misguided’ as the third sector, which already struggled with financial viability, would lose a vital incentive to ‘act green’.

Library and swimming cuts

Libraries and swimming pools are also set to be hit by cuts in funding.

Cumbria County Council intends to sever financial support for public pools, which will lose £250,000.

Pools, such as the Kendal and Ulverston branches of Lakes Leisure, will be forced to make up the short-fall through other means – by raising prices or cutting back on classes.

Occupational therapist Moyra Buttery, 43, of Kendal, said the service was important for her family, who used the pool twice a week.

“I’m keen to take my son Alexander, as soon as he is old enough. Swimming makes us feel better and keeps us fit. Putting prices up could stop people from being able to go.”

Janet Tomlinson, 58, of Staveley, regularly takes her three grandchildren swimming at the pool and said the facility was an asset for youngsters.

Libraries face a £175,000 cut in funding, a reduction which is likely to see opening hours decrease, facilities cut back and and charges rise.

Michael Simpson, 65, of Kendal, said his local library was a vital part of the community and a place many people met up.

Daphne Rockliffe, 76, of Kendal, said Cumbria County Council needed to stop taking valuable services away from local people.

Parking charges

The introduction of on-street parking charges in 12 town centres and tourist ‘hotspots’ could bring in £700,000 a year for the county council on a charge of £1.50 an hour through a meter system.

But Adrian Faulkner, of Windermere and Bowness Chamber of Trade, said the introduction of fees would be the ‘final nail in the coffin’ for the tourist economy.

“This is absolutely the last straw. Firstly South Lakeland District Council wanted to introduce night parking fees and now you’ve got the county council planning on-street parking charges,” he said.

“Do they want to kill the tourism industry completely? Tourists just won’t visit places if they have to pay to parking.”

He also has concerns that on-street parking would hit residents and workers hard.

“Are you going to be charged if you just pull up outside a shop to nip in for a loaf of bread?

"What about all the workers who travel into the tourist towns every day to work in the hotels and restaurants, will they have to pay while they’re working?

"These charges take money out of the economy and are going to make everyone’s lives a lot harder.”

Richard Greenwood, of Cumbria Tourism, said: “Clearly this could effect the guest houses and B & Bs who rely on on-street parking for their business. Parking meters also cost a lot of money to install so they won’t make savings quickly. It will also lead to a lot of street clutter which in this part of the world we don’t need.”

Fire service cuts

A £400,000 cut to the fire service budget would cut 12 jobs at Barrow fire station through a new four-day, on-call shift system.

Staffing of wildfire response Land Rovers will also be reduced at Windermere, Grange, Millom and Keswick fire stations.

Mally Hind, Cumbria’s brigade secretary for the Fire Brigade Union said reduced staffing levels at Barrow fire station wouldn’t be detrimental to the service but that he was worried a 96-hour shift system could affect the well-being of crews.

He said: “You’re going back to Victorian times with shifts that long.

"It’s a welfare concern, it doesn’t embrace family friendly policies and any increase in wages will not reflect the amount of time spent away from home.”

He also has concerns that a reduction of staff manning the Land Rovers would create a situation where fire crews would have to choose between the Land Rover or the fire engine in certain emergencies.

Click on the link below to see Westmorland Gazette's cartoonist Colin Shelbourn's take on the story.