Deep Financial Cuts become Reality in Warwickshire and Coventry

Today, was the day when 13,000 petition signatures, a five minute speech from Vicky Fowler (former Youth Service member) and a further twenty five minute full council debate were not enough to stop the deep financial cuts becoming reality.

BBC Midlands Today iPlayer (report by Holly Lewis), the Spending Cuts are 3.52mins to 7.42mins in the programme), Warwickshire County Council to cut £33m and 1,800 jobs (BBC News) and Coventry City councillors approve budget cuts of £39m (BBC News).

Up to 1,800 jobs are to be cut at Warwickshire County Council after budget proposals were approved.

At a full council meeting on Tuesday, the authority agreed to cut £33m from its services.

The cuts included £3.6m from the county's youth service, Connexions, which has put hundreds of jobs at risk.

About 100 people gathered outside Shire Hall in Warwick to protest against the cuts while 13,000 signed a petition objecting to the youth service cuts.

The Conservative-led council also agreed to cut £8m from adult social services spending.

The council's budget for 2009/10 was £784.4m. In November, the council predicted its expenditure for 2010/2011 would be £825.2m.

Cllr Alan Farnell, the leader of the council, said: "We all accept that the magnitude of the financial challenges requires large scale reform. And, as in recent years, Warwickshire is under-funded when compared to the average local authority.

'No other jobs'

"But regardless of recent movement in the funding landscape, our principles remain the same.

"We may not be able to do as much as we, or other parties, would like but we're doing as much as we can with the money we've got, and we must be realistic."

But protesters asked the council to consider other options to avoid the cuts to youth services.

Teresa Chakroft, a Warwickshire youth worker, said: "I can't lose my job, there's no other jobs.

"I'm a single parent of a one-year-old. If I lose this job what am I going to do?"

SOURCE: BBC News