Say No to Cuts in Tower Hamlets

The Mayor of Tower Hamlets is presenting us with a Tory Austerity budget for the Borough. The implementation of his 'Efficiency Plan' will lead to £58 million of cuts to our services: £7.5 million to Adults Services; £7.2 million to Children's Services. This is not a budget that is designed to protect the vulnerable but will throw them to the wolves.

These cuts are not necessary - the Mayor should lead a community backed campaign for the required funding from central Government. 

There are alternatives to cuts in jobs and services:

1. The Council reported its General Reserves stood at £72.1 million at the end of the 2016 financial year. This could be used in the short term to fund services until more funding can be won from the Government.

2. The Council also has access to prudential borrowing. Interest rates are at a historic low. The Council would be able to take unsecured loans cheaply.

3. The Council plans to set aside £25 million for 'Transformation'. This is the fund which includes the projected redundancy pay for staff. Instead of funding redundancies this could be put towards keeping the jobs and services running. It could also be used to retrain staff into new posts and new ways of working to meet many of the changes the Council identifies as urgent.

Sign now to demand NO CUTS in Tower Hamlets. If enough people sign, the Mayor will see that the community will not stand for unnecessary implementation of Tory budget cuts.

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Original petition in full:

Mayor John Biggs is presenting 'a Tory Austerity budget' for Tower Hamlets.

Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is presenting a clear and robust no cuts budget proposal.

Tower Hamlets Independent Group (THIG) is also presenting its own budget that demonstrate it is possible to defend community services and hold the Tory Government accountable – something John Biggs have failed to do.

Tower Hamlets Labour Mayor John Biggs produces his second budget since becoming Mayor.

In his Foreword he states:

"Firstly our resources are shrinking due to continued government austerity and rowing demand for services. Our Medium Term Financial strategy requires us to make £58m in savings over the next three years;

Our budget challenge is clear - to make savings of £58m;

The Mayor identifies the biggest problem that Tower Hamlets council has ever faced; a massive budget deficit that has been built on the back of 7 years of funding cuts.

And the Mayor's proposal in the face of this crisis is to capitulate to these spending plans.

The Mayor, a Labour Party Mayor, accepts that the Council has to meekly adopt Government, i.e. Tory Party spending policy.

The austerity policy of the government has created one economic fact over the previous 7 years – a widening wealth gap.

The richest in the country have seen rising incomes and a return of their wealth to the pre-2008 economic crisis levels. Meanwhile the poor and ‘squeezed middle’ have seen income stagnation at best and impoverishment at worst.

Why is it important?

This capitulation by John Biggs is made clearer in that the council applied for and received support from the government for the 3-year funding settlement.

This required the Council to first develop an Efficiency Plan that met with the Government’s austerity targets.

The Mayor is presenting us with a Tory Austerity budget for Borough.

The implementation of this 'Efficiency Plan' will lead to £58 million of cuts to our services: £7.5 million to Adults Services; £7.2 million to Children's Services. This is not a budget that is designed to protect the vulnerable but will throw them to the wolves, continuing the process that began with the Mayor's first full budget in 2016.

Solution:

The Mayor’s Foreword explains that there are an average of 11,000 extra people a year living in the borough. Yet the Council is refusing to fight for extra funding on top of its existing budget for this extra population.

And the Council cannot say that high profile campaigns showing the devastation of local services cannot bring additional funding. Surrey County Council decided to organise a local referendum to increase its Council Tax rate by 15% this year to cover the huge budget hole it faced because of the cost of Adult Social care. We do not have to adopt the similar style but we can certainly lead a high-profile campaign by working together with the left-wing political and community groups – something John Biggs have failed to do.

Jeremy Corbyn revealed in Parliament this week that discussions between the DCLG and Surrey County Council had produced a memorandum of understanding that there were plans that could help Surrey and other County Councils fund this gap.

The Mayor identifies one of the areas of unavoidable growth for this Council is the ageing population and the increasing costs it will struggle to meet in the coming years (3.5.2.2 – 3.5.2.3). Yet the Mayor meekly plans to reduce the budget in real terms by £4.25 million by March 2020 using the council’s 2% inflation projection or a 4.5% cut.

The crisis in Adult Social care is so widespread that there is a revolt by Tory County Councils. Working class voters across the country should also see their Labour Councillors advocating for increased funding.

The Council reported its General Reserves stood at £72.1 million at the end of the 2016 financial year, an increase of £8.6 million over the projected £63.6 million in last year’s MTFS. The Mayor increased the Discretionary Earmarked Reserves that is excluding Capital, Schools and Housing Revenue Account from £75.2 projected in March 2016 MTFS projection to £122 million during 2016 and to £159.2 million in March 2017.

Reserves are a one-off resource as the Council report explains. The Council also has access to prudential borrowing. Interest rates are at a historic low as the report explains and unlikely to move sharply upwards for some time. These interest rates are having an impact on the amount the Council earns from its balances both in reserves and general cash flow management. The reverse is true in that the Council would be able to take unsecured loans cheaply.

The Council plans to set aside £25 million for Transformation. This is the fund which includes the projected redundancy pay for staff.

We believe this could instead be used to meet the budget gap for this year. It could also be used to retrain staff into new posts and new ways of working to meet many of the changes the Council identifies as urgent.