With no public housing, libraries, swimming pools and sports facilities left under Salford Council's ownership, it's the city's social services that face the hammer over the next two years - 2015-17 – as new £56million cuts proposals are outlined today.
Young People...
The Council intends to cut up to £120,000 by `maximising the independence of young people' with a review of `travel arrangements'. It doesn't state whether kids with Special Education Needs are just going to be chucked on public transport.
Connexions, which helps kids get jobs, is facing a cut of up to £100,000, the skills and work service, a cut of up to £120,000 and `commissioning for children's services' looks likely to take a hit of over £1million.
Council help for vulnerable young people up to 19 years old faces a cut of up to £1,440,000, while the city's looked after children provision faces a review to cut just under £2million
Older People, those with disabilities, the sick and the vulnerable...
The Council is insisting that its reduction of up to £5,448,000 in the budget for health and social care services is "not a service reduction", it's an `integrated care programme alliance... aiming to provide better outcomes for older people, improved experiences of health and social care services and lower costs'. Of course.
...And it's cut of up to £175,000 in care and support packages for people with adult social care needs, is merely a `review...ensuring needs are met and people are supported to live as independently as possible'... And that it's charging policy for adult social care services to bring in up to £50,000 is merely an `update'. It also wants to create an `adult social care mutual' to save £500,000, yet again farming out services that it won't be responsible for any more.
Meanwhile, funding to sheltered housing will be slashed by up to £495,000, and the Supporting People budget – which `supports' vulnerable adults, families in poverty and homeless families and single people, travellers and people leaving care - could be slashed by over £1million. The Council Tax support scheme could also be slashed by £500,000 (see previous Salford Star article – click here).
Services to help those with drug and alcohol problems will be slashed by up to £93,000 in a `service redesign', while £375,000 will be cut from the promotion of services preventing smoking, cancer, stroke and heart disease. Indeed, up to £250,000 will go up in smoke from the `stop smoking' service as "there has been a reduced demand for stop smoking services. This is largely down to the increased use of e-cigarettes"...nothing, of course, to do with added stress from Council cuts.
As obesity takes a grip on Salford, `obesity management' is to be slimmed down with a financial diet of up to £644,000, while the sexual health budget is getting screwed by £500,000 to "achieve much greater value for money".
Neighbourhood Support Services can expect to lose £1million, and people will be expected "to organise and support themselves".
Indeed the majority of the cuts Salford Council is proposing are about the Council washing its hands of responsibility for those who need these services – it's a Dickensian Do It Yourself budget, following Tory ethics (see previous Salford Star article – click here).
Under the totally misleading title of `Improving customer access', the Council is looking to hack up to £1,591,000 by making Salford people try to fathom out services by looking online rather than speaking to someone on the phone or face-to-face. And it will be expecting people to litter pick voluntarily as it makes £390,000 `efficiencies' in street cleaning and grounds maintenance.
Council Staff
Up to £500,000 worth of Council staff will be axed, as well as those getting binned from the slashing of other services. For those who stay, up to £400,000 will be cut from their travel schemes to and from work, and on business as a new Green Travel Scheme is launched, ie walk! Staff will also be invited to `sacrifice salaries' to save up to £500,000, while anyone potentially getting a job with Salford Council will have to pay for their own DBS checks to save £36,000. There's also a `review' of design and print, corporate ICT, finance services, customer services and HR to potentially save up to £3,511,000, which will probably mean more backroom staff slashed.
Other Cuts...
The Council is proposing a £250,000 cut Salford Community Leisure, which won't harm it too much as it made over £370,000 profit last year by charging everyone for everything (just don't mention the SCL pension liabilities); it's also proposing to chop £30,000 from Salford City Radio, up to £100,000 from funding for events, and up to £150,000 from The Lowry's community work – which it's only just started doing properly.
MediaCityUK doesn't escape with a proposal to slash up to £425,000 in subsidies from Metrolink at MediaCityUK and The Landing, and up to £226,000 in staff reductions in the Regeneration Team.
Interestingly, there is a £700,000 potential cut in `the scale of new capital investment', which will `ease savings needed in the revenue budget'. Salford City Mayor, Ian Stewart has been hiding behind the two different pots of `capital' and `revenue' funding, saying that they are two separate budgets and can't be swapped - and therefore building bridges and fountains and stuff doesn't have an effect on slashing things like transport for severely disabled people. Well, now's his chance to swap these budgets around to provide for the vulnerable – no excuses after this!
Behind the cuts are also many proposals to farm services out to a Greater Manchester level, fitting in with the controversial devolution plan that nobody has asked for or, indeed, been consulted upon.
There's full sketchy details of all these cuts on the Salford Council's special Talk Budget consultation on its website.
In the `consultation', citizens will find that the Council has already decided its priorities...`Reforming public services' ie privatising and farming out services; `A Co-operative city' ie sort it out for yourselves; `A caring city' ie unless you're on death's door you're on your own; `A growing city' ie we're still going to stuff private developers with cash and land.
The Talk Budget presentation (click here), instead of actually asking people whether they think it's right to axe services for vulnerable people and the like, asks citizens `What would you be prepared to do to make the most of public funds?' in a `Spirit of Salford Challenge'....
....Things like volunteering - `Would you be willing to contribute an hour a week?' – while we sack our trained staff?... Use online services? - while we sack our face-to-face staff... `Can you keep your street free of litter?' - while we sack our street cleaners... `Can you use local shops and businesses at least once every week?' – while we allow Tesco and the like to take over every spare bit of land in Salford...`Would you consider being a foster carer?'- while we close down all the suitable centres for kids in the city...
And there's a special Do It Yourself budget, where you can slash any service you want with a click of the mouse! (see here) And at the end see if you can `Balance The Budget'! You have until January 4th to respond. Which will be great fun over the festive season...turkeys voting for Christmas comes to mind...
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