Forum Topic

Cuts, cuts and more cuts

See story on the front page. Deep cuts to come, 129 staff may be made redundant. Say NO to austerity - it is a political choice, not a necessity.

Chris Hurley ● 3947d18 Comments

There is a carpark behind Perceval House and another behind the Town Hall where Councillors and staff can park without charge. Anyone can park there free out of office hours.But I think Vlod may be referring to the public car park in Southall which cost rather a lot of money and rarely has more than three or four cars parked there. When the search for economies began, it was suggested that the Council could raise £3000,000 for front line services by selling the space for development. That would pay for quite a few front line services.I noticed today that Citizens UK, the charity who sent an eloquent speaker to the CCA open meeting last week is also funded by the Council to the tune of £200,000. Im sure they do an excellent job at encouraging employers to pay the living wage, but it is a curious choice for funding when we are told that so many posts are at risk.

Maire Lowe ● 3943d

Council car parks!  Vlod are u saying that Council employees have free car parking?  Also what is the position on Council officers being allowed to purchase cars as part of their employment contracts (subsidised)..the type of car dependant on their job description.  The higher up the bigger the car.

Dee Cook ● 3944d

Ealing is not the only borough facing a reduction in funding. The Council's financial health is dependent on the balance between income and expenses (e.g. benefits). Boroughs with higher levels of social housing and unemployed population will always struggle. Other comparable boroughs such as Enfield, Hounslow and Hackney focus on cutting back inefficiencies and poor performance from staff who should have been out through regular performance management anyway, not a one-off exercise. However, the reduction in funding should not be used as an excuse for an even worse performance where services are already extremely poor, such as street cleaning and rubbish collection.

Tatiana Collins ● 3944d

Saying no to austerity is rather like saying no to your overdraft or mortgage payments. If you owe someone money you will have to repay it; delaying the dreaded day just racks up more interest charges.It would be useful to have some breakdown of these positions to assess exactly what services will be affected. One would also like to be reassured that money is not being wasted; one of the current Labour council's first acts after re-election in 2014 ("vote for us to save our hospitals") was to increase councillor allowances by 10%. Julian Bell has also been recruiting a political advisor at the cost of £50k a year - is that one of the posts to be axed? How much has been spent on the square at North Acton station, where no progress has been made for months (allegedly because removing the earth is turning out more expensive than original planned - I guess no one thought soil under a petrol station might be heavily contaminated)? Will the council sell its blessed car park in Southall to protect front line services?

Vlod Barchuk ● 3945d

Yes!

Chris Hurley ● 3945d

Or walk across the water

Keith Iddon ● 3946d

I think JC would probably get on his bike!

Chris Hurley ● 3946d

So no RAF flights for Left Unity then? If Mr.Corbyn ever takes over the running of the country, how would you suggest he gets to meetings outside of the UK? Ryanair? the bus?Can you imagine the funny stories if the Prime Minister of Great Britain leaves civil servants carrying confidential documents and journalists looking for stories standing on the tarmacadam while he stands in line with holiday makers. Would you allow him priority boarding or are you guys thinking of being very strict?

Maire Lowe ● 3946d

They could always get two jags each..

Keith Iddon ● 3946d

It may well be, but it looks terrible when everyone else is facing cuts, and the Tories have their own private plane...

Chris Hurley ● 3946d

Of course it's a good idea.The reasoning is sound.

Brian May ● 3946d

It also makes us safer to some degree as a normal scheduled flight that does not have a minister or a prime minister eating pringles on it is less likely to be targetted by terrorists. I think , overall, it's agood idea.

Keith Iddon ● 3946d

As I suspect you already know Sara, the practice of using RAF aircraft has been established for at least 20 years. They get members of the Cabinet, their staff and any journalists to and from meetings outside of the UK as quickly, discreetly and cheaply as possible. They are now suggesting that, rather than use whatever aircraft is available atthe minute, they convert one of them permanently, add additonal security and extend its use to the Royal Family as required. Its not for me to judge, but it seems rational. I understand the leader of the Green Party prefers to cycle to meetings outside of the UK, but she may have more time for her journeys.

Maire Lowe ● 3946d

Oh I think we should just buy aeroplanes for the exclusive use of government ministers. Demonstrably a fine use of public funds at a time of "austerity".Even to the non-party political, this sticks in the craw a bit.

Sara Nathan ● 3946d

Yes, let's borrow more.The Money Tree is infinite you know.

Brian May ● 3946d

Well from what I see there is certainly no shortage of money spent on Ealing Broadway with fancy paving stones and so on.As usual Acton is rather neglected by comparison!Not a Christmas decoration in sight in Acton but of course Ealing has decorations up already.The Oaks in Acton is dire, I wonder how long before we have a High Street Worth visiting.

Jean F Fernandez ● 3947d

I suppose everyone knows that Central Government pays a bonus of four times the Council Tax for every new home in the Borough. Somehow the Council forgets to mention the new homes bonus when talking about reductions in other allowances. Does anyone know how much the Council has collected in the last three years or how much it is predicted to collect over the life of this Government? It will be interesting to hear how they are spending all this money. Services to the vulnerable I'm sure.

Maire Lowe ● 3947d

Interesting article in the Times this morning about how George Osborne is overdoing it.

Susan Kelly ● 3947d