Are these the same people who constantly attacked the Labour Government for not giving them enough money before?

6 July 2010

Below is the Conservative Press Release from Gloucestershire County Council

First round of cuts announced

Speed cameras, road improvement schemes and advisory services will be most affected by government cuts, it was announced today.

In a report to be discussed at a Cabinet meeting on 13 July, Gloucestershire County Council has revealed how it will make savings following cuts to government grants.

The cuts are Gloucestershire County Council’s contribution to the £6.2billion savings the government needs to make this year. The council needs to find £7.2 million from this year’s budget.

Leader of the Council, Cllr Mark Hawthorne, said: “The Government’s top priority is cutting the deficit and Gloucestershire must play its part.

“This means in Gloucestershire we must make tough decisions and take action now to find savings.”

Commenting on the specific proposals for Cabinet, Cllr Mark Hawthorne, said: “We have been asking ourselves tough questions about what services need to be prioritised and where there are opportunities for savings.

“The first area to be hit will be speed cameras. From now on there will be no new investment in speed cameras in Gloucestershire and a review of how camera enforcement operates is planned. We are also looking at how we deliver more effective road safety education. 

“We will concentrate on repairing and maintaining existing roads, rather than moving forward with new improvement schemes.  People across the county are telling us that when money is tight, it’s the right choice to make.

“The most difficult decisions have been in children and young people’s services, where the Government has made the biggest reductions in our funding. We are taking some tough decisions, but have focused on areas where we simply act as advisors or where others provide similar services. We are doing everything we can to minimise the effect on frontline services and our priority will be protecting the most vulnerable.”

Cllr Paul McLain, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People said: “We spend £70million each year on services for children, supporting them from birth until they are 19. We need to find £3.2 million of savings out of that budget and we have to prioritise child protection, so we will fulfil our commitment to invest in 30 new social workers.

“However, this means freezing spending in other areas. We will no longer be investing in Olympic sports activities and we will reduce training budgets for staff. We will also be talking to the voluntary sector about how we can deliver services more efficiently as we see grants reduce even further.”

The cabinet meeting will be held at 10am on Tuesday 13^th July 2010 at Shire Hall.

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6th July 2010