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Stark Choices due to continuing austerity measures from Tories at Westminster

by Ian Shires on 15 November, 2016

I saw the headline yesterday on the online version of The Advertiser – Councillor calls on public to ‘fight’ for Pheasey Library as cull continues in Walsall.

Image result for government cuts to local authorities threaten vital servicesI was wondering which councillor would be the first to break cover and urge residents to rise up and fight the closure of their local library. I have to say I was more than a little surprised to find that that councillor turned out to be Councillor Chris Towe for whom I have a lot of respect.

I say surprised because he more than any opposition councillor should be fully aware of the reasons why the proposal (and that’s all it is at this stage) to close all but one of Walsall’s Libraries is amongst the current administration’s suggested budget reductions in order to reach the £86 million demanded by the Tories at Westminster.

I say Councillor Towe should know better because only a couple of years ago he was the Portfolio Holder for Finance in the last Conservative Administration which was facing the same demands from their own Government in Westminster.

The difference between then and now was that the Tories backed off from doing what was needed reverting to the easier option of a one year budget instead of the four-year budget needed. By putting off vital decisions they have made matters worse by reducing the options.

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time, or can you?

If Councillor Towe were the Portfolio Holder for Finance right now, he knows that he would face the same difficult choices as the current Labour/Lib Dem Administration that being do you reduce the Adult Social Care Budget by a further £2.9 million having already slashed it by £18 million. He would probably reach the same conclusion as the current administration?

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with a councillor fighting for something on his or her own patch. What residents deserve to know is if their library is saved, what else will suffer as a result? Remember the council has to produce a balanced budget.

The stark reality is that we are stuck with the Tories running things down in Westminster till 2020. Unfortunately, the die was cast back at the General Election in 2015 when the country supported the Tories even though they had said that they would continue with austerity measures. That decision sealed the fate of Local Government and here in Walsall as a direct result of those continuing austerity measures the Council either has to cut even more from services which have already been hacked to the bone or raise Council Tax well above the cost of living, or both.

Personally, I have no desire to reduce funding to services like Adult Social Care especially when those services are under further threat from Government cuts to the NHS. I also believe that to close libraries would deprive people of so much pleasure and perhaps more importantly deprive those in our society who are less fortunate. Because they are on lower incomes and have to make the stark choice of putting food on the table or paying for the blue-sky technology to give themselves the same on-line access to jobs and services the rest of us take for granted.

There may be another way. Most recognise that the Council has to produce a balanced budget. It the damage being done to some vital local services is unacceptable to you then one action which could be taken is to increase Council Tax to ensure all 16 libraries remain open. The question is would you be prepared to pay the price? I would be, would you?

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