Sadness as only 14 people attend meeting to discuss £28m budget cuts
THE LEADER of Northamptonshire County Council has admitted he was disappointed only 14 members of the public turned out to a public meeting to discuss the authority’s plans for controversial budget cuts.
The authority held the meeting at County Hall in Northampton last night.
Issues raised by concerned residents during the two-hour session included cuts to services for the young and vulnerable, cuts to the funding of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), and the future of the county’s libraries.
But despite residents who turned out making heart-felt pleas for services to be retained, the leader of the authority, Councillor Jim Harker (Con, Kettering Rural) said he was sad to be speaking to a virtually empty room.
He said: “I’m disappointed there aren’t more members of the public here, because this is a very important situation. We have to make millions of pounds of savings and that’s a huge choice for us to make.
“If the public don’t have their say, it’s very difficult to know what their priorities are. I just hope that at the end of it all, when we have to decide where the money goes, we can satisfy as many people as possible.”
The council needs to make £28 million of savings from its budget this year.
The savings follow controversial decisions last year to switch off half the county’s street lights, scrap lollipop patrols and cut the money given to the group which ran the county’s speed cameras.
During last night’s meeting residents received assurances that protecting the vulnerable was the council’s top priority.
Councillors also pledged that all the county’s library would keep ‘at least one paid member of staff’, despite a drive to bring more volunteers into the service.
Among the few members of the public who attended the meeting was lecturer, Dr Ron Mendel.
He said: “I don’t know how they could have got more people to take part. One of the problems is, if you actually read the council’s budget plans, they’re written in such a way that they don’t make a lot of sense to people outside the council.”
A final decision on the council’s budget plans will be made on February 23.
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Comments
There are 34 comments to this article
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Postie Supporter
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 02:34 AMAs this sad pathetic excuse of a councillor comes from the totally out of touch incompetent con artists their one big idea being the big society when is he and his fellow so called councillors going to practice what their party preaches. Councillors volunteer to stand for election because they believe they can make a difference to the communities they wish to represent. Not bleed them dry with their totally unnecessary expenses and allowances. PRACTICE WHAT YOUR PATRY PREACHES DO THE ROLE FOR FREE!!!!!!!!!!
Common sense
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 10:48 AMI'm disappointed at the photo journalism at this event--usually you have a photo of mostly white old men in gabardine coats with grey Marks & Spencers shoes on. The numbers attending are usually eggagerated and the pretentious wholesale indignation and outrage set the tone for the headline.. Must be mistaken--thats the " outraged" photo of the rent-a-gang mob who opose anything to do with houses being built. Amazing they can get out of bed for that but not for NCC cuts?
WayneB
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 10:48 AMThere's another meeting tonight (Thursday) at the Guildhall to discuss Northampton Borough Council's planned cuts - which include cuts to PCSO funding and CCTV cameras. Judging by the interest on here, there should be a bit better turn out. It's at 6.30pm at the Guildhall.
Links
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 09:23 AMI had no idea there was a meeting and, judging from the majority of comments here, not many others did either. If old Jimbo wants to moan about something I'd suggest he looks closer to home and reviews how his council informs and engages with the public they are elected to represent.
Finker
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 09:11 AMThe fact Cllr Harker said this shows a key problem. If the system were working then every single one of us was represented in the meeting. That's what elected Councillors do, right? No is the simple answer and the fact this statement has been issued reveals that they know it.
expo65
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 08:56 PMHow cleverly planned - one little night meeting ? We do not have the luxury of private cars, car parking , and making expense claim. Bet all from top to bottom, will make a claim for this meeting , and as county council culture dicates have time off in lieu - TOIL. Like every year this people are not seriously willing to consult us, if they want to ensure fairness and equity , demonstrate the consultation is fit for purpose , status quo would have been to go around the county , meet real people , have open public debates , and have the willingness to thrive in all sorts of enviornment , not just sit in cosy carpeted hall. They very well knew not many people will come , and as many readers have expressed all sorts of angry remarks, all has been already decided , they know and knew that they were not going to win the battle for hearts and minds of real local people here. Jim nor his cabinet are not disappointed, they must be gleeing with inner delight , and had the best early evening for that glass of wine. Pity they were not burdened with thousands of pre questions - at least it would have kept them busy. The consultation provided was difficult to digest, and not fit for purpose at all, how they expect the ordinary person to understand all pen pushers jargon, meaning, and how does one expect to respond , not even a SAE form or some sort of feed back system in place. Not everyone has the luxury of modern technology, and in some instances like this they should have taken more care to communicate in good old ways - i.e post. But then it is too much work for this overpaid , underworked council workers. £28 million cuts this year - JIM - for starters with the extent of county council waste this amount does not surprise us. There is a big failure in your council in reducing the endemic waste , loss of work productivity, going on silly conferences, courses, inflexible staff force, council doing silly side things which have no bearing with our front line services, listening to ipod , sometimes you wonder who actually workshere, the list can go on, so for a change DO NOT CUT DOWN OUR SERVICES, but have a internal behavioural change, better audit culture , and reformed internal objectivity. it is always easy politically to cut down services, with fear factor but unless you tackle your own wastage , ( a well known fact ) how do you expect us to be in together - not worth it. We also know after next year when the Govt. freeze ends NCC will bump up our council tax , and NCC will be refurbished with so called PROJECT WORKERS, CONSULTANTS , and more silly NO JOBS positions.
tish
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 07:40 PMHappy to agree with post 24 on this one, time was we had three parties, one was the more better off Tories, one was middle of the road Liberals, and Labour was generally for the less well off, Now you couldn't get a piece of paper between them, Not one of the national leaders has come up through the ranks, it's public school, university and politics with nothing in between. They have no idea of the problems of ordinary people. Why did they not take their consultation round local libraries in daytime hours? They turn off the street lights then have the meeting at night when buses are not running so frequently if at all, the have the breathtaking hypocrisy to complain that hardly anyone turns up .
happyhippo
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 05:34 PMAbsolutely no point going to a meeting about decisions that have already been made, that no-one elses point of view will be even listened to, let alone acted upon. The councillors are happy to waste their time, because they are getting paid for it (either 'paid' or receive some sort of perks!) Jo Bloggs gets nothing for attending... not even the curtesy of being listened to!
HOS
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 03:11 PMThe only reason the public are wanted at this meeting is that when the council make even more savage cuts to critical front line services this year, they can pass blame onto us saying "the public were part of the decision making consultation on cuts". Politicians are cowards sat in their ivory towers. They are a totally transparent disgrace !
Steven Richards
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 12:53 PMI watched for a while online, but soon gave up. Why would Cllr Harker expect folk to travel to a meeting to hear 'we'd love to do more but haven't got the money' as the reply to all questions. When they 'consulted' on street lights I don't think they had many people telling them they thought it was okay to turn them off, so why does he think people will assume they will bother listening this time?
TeddyMcnabb
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 12:09 PMBANG2RIGHTS, you will find the libdems and labour controlled councils up and down the country, doing exactly the same as the tories are doing here, their all the same, 3 tory parties, Our last labour m.p of expenses scandal fame, was a blairite noddy, privileged, careerist, elitist, self-serving and NOT representative of what the labour party was founded for and for whom, the WRB originated from blue labour and it was blue labour who removed the resident wardens in sheltered housing, increased child poverty, widened the gap between rich and poor, legitimised the poverty wage and then put 10p tax on it, increased year on youth unemployment, etc etc, all of this continued with a vengeance by the tories and libdem coalition. When i read of m.p,s or cllrs attacking the tories [rightly so] im revolted at their unashamed hypocrisy.
Bang 2 Rights
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 11:46 AMHasn't the borough council already voted to cut funding for Police Community Support Officers? According to Terry Wire they have at a meeting last week. Labour and the Lib Dems voted against the cuts and the Conservatives voted for them. They want us the public to give their opinions, but they have already voted the decision. What point does it serve going to these meetings to say what we think when the Conservatives don't give a tinkers for our views? Why should they? The run the borough, the county, all our MPs and while people are daft enough to keep voting for them they will keep treating us like something they found on the sole of their shoe.
Scouser 1983
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 11:31 AMWhere has my comment gone about my issue about promoting the meetings via the Chron? Is this because I said your journalists were not as ambitious and challenging as other groups. This is not freedom of expression is it. It is not offensive nor insightful. I was merely asking why the Chron can't publish when meetings are, and challenge the agenda like other papergroups do, or is this because they give you money in advertising?
Scouser 1983
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 11:25 AMIn reference to what meeting - that is a significant point. To me the Chron should act as a bastion of our interests and promote this more by illustrating what the agenda is, and using FOI, and journalistic aptitude stir up issues which need resolving. However this paper does not seem to do that - please look at how other papers create a bit of mayhem - near by look at the Beds on Sunday
Common sense
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 11:25 AMPerhaps NCC will now realise how important they are to the people of Northamptonshire--I'd be embarrassed if I was a Councillor. It also begs the question--Do we need a County Council?
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