Protests over ‘big mistake’ children’s cuts

The Oxfordshire community was out in full force today (February 16) at picket lines to demonstrate against cuts in a bid to save children’s centres and other council services as Oxfordshire county council aims for £69m in savings.

Unite members working in early intervention staged a 24-hour walkout today as the county council threatened to shut down 44 children’s centres and 7 early intervention hubs, as well as scrap mobile libraries and reduce funding for the arts, homeless support, road gritting, elderly day services and support for carers.

 
Protestors, including Unite members and members of the local community – recently supported by prime minister David Cameron’s mum and aunt – gathered outside county hall this morning, after which they attended a packed budget meeting where councillors continue to deliberate on the planned cuts.

 
The prime minister’s mother Mary Cameron last week signed a petition to save children’s centres from the savage cuts, with Cameron’s aunt Clare describing the cuts as a ‘big mistake’. The Oxford Mail reported that she was in attendance at the protest today.

 
The prime minister, whose constituency Witney will be affected by the cuts to services, wrote to the Tory council leader Ian Hudspeth in September to complain about ‘counterproductive cuts’ to frontline services.

 
Hypocrisy

But Unite regional officer Chris Gray said the letter revealed Cameron’s hypocrisy.

 
“In writing that letter, David Cameron has exposed the two-faced nature of his stance, by urging austerity from central government on the one hand, and then taking the council leader to task for implementing his government’s own policies,” he said.

 
“The prime minister and his Tory council leader would do well to remember that our members work with some of the county’s most vulnerable families,” Gray added. The one to one support they provide on issues from domestic abuse to help with self-harm and drug and alcohol misuse is vital to turning lives around.”

 
Budget negotiations continued this afternoon after the contentious meeting was adjourned multiple times and council leaders continued discussions in private to try to reach a solution with new proposals.

 
The Oxford Mail noted that this was the first time since 1997 that a meeting was adjourned, when, senior figures said, “they adjourned about 10 times and the debate went on to 2am”.

 
Reports are now emerging of a potential budget compromise reached between the Labour and Conservative groups.

 
Conflict
Conflict over the initial Tory budget proposals reached a high point when independent councillor Lynda Atkins suddenly quit her alliance with Conservatives yesterday (February 15) and said she would be voting with the Labour group instead.

 
“I have thought long and hard about this and looked at all the alternative proposals that were submitted on Friday over the weekend,” she said.

 
“It seems to me that the Labour plan offers more hope to people in Oxfordshire than those put forward by the Conservatives.”

 
Unites members working in early intervention voted by 83 per cent in favour of the strike action that took place today which will continue until midnight tonight.

 
“Today hundreds of protesters have joined our members to speak out against Oxfordshire wrecking its children’s service and to the council’s damaging cuts,” said Gray. “Now we need our councillors to listen and vote ‘no’ to these brutal cuts.”

 
“Day in and day out our members work with young people, children and their families living in poverty, fighting addiction or loneliness,” he added. “Where will they go when the council pulls the plug on the vital services they rely on?

 
“The council’s plans to provide only statutory levels of care are insufficient and short-sighted,” Gray went on to say. “Problems left to escalate will become more complex and entrenched, and therefore expensive. By helping young people, children and their families early, these services protect them from more costly interventions like mental health and NHS services, and prison.

 
“We are urging the council not to turn its back on the county’s young people, not now, not ever. Even the prime minister’s own mother understands the damage these cuts will inflict on future generations.
“Our message is simple; vote ‘no’ to these brutal cuts and find an alternative solution.”

 
Stay tuned on UNITElive for the result after today’s budget meeting.