rather than winging and whining being a DowNowt
why not be a DoItNow for the people of Middlesbrough = organize a referendum
Indie
12:56 AM on October 8, 2011
goodcop - you cannot sack an elected mayor. You can only wait until the next election and vote for another. At least 50% of those on the Police Authority are NOT cllrs. Any money made from the sale of Ladgate Lane cannot be used to keep any youth club etc open. The Police Authority is already going.
Calls for strength in face of adversity as axe hangs over 78 public services
http://middlesbrough-council.com/forum/ ... ?f=8&t=423
SWINGEING cuts to Middlesbrough Council spending have prompted a call for residents to show how they can cope when their backs are against the wall.
People living in the borough have also been urged by the borough’s Mayor to come forward with suggestions on where the authority could make budget savings.
The £10.5m of cuts proposed this week range from closing Clairville Stadium and Tennis World - replacing them with a new sports village - to closing libraries, the Southlands Centre, and youth and community centres.
But more than £3m of further savings still have to be found to meet next year’s spending limits - with cuts of £12.3m and £11.7m needed in the following two.
Councillor Charlie Rooney, the council’s Labour Group leader, said no-one wanted to make the cuts, adding they were being forced on the authority by the Government.
“We are looking to create hubs for communities where hopefully activities can still take place,” he said.
“It is the building and staff numbers we are going to lose - we are trying to keep the activities going.
“What we are seeing is the Government cuts coming home to roost.”
Councillor Chris Hobson, leader of the Conservative Group, said: “We have to think about this seriously. These cuts have to be made.”
Cllr Hobson said she would like to see one branch library retained to serve residents in the south, the east and west of the town.
Marton Independent councillor Tom Mawston saw an opportunity for volunteers to get involved in retaining some services.
“Libraries are a priority,” he said. “We could get volunteers to maintain libraries and other venues and should look at ways of recruiting and training volunteers.”
Independent councillor Joan McTigue said: “In adversity it often brings out the best in people. It is amazing how we do find ways of coping. This is an opportunity for the town to show it can cope when its back is against the wall.
“If this council learns anything from this for the future, it should be to spend money wisely and not throw it around as they have in the past on useless white elephants.”
Councillor Peter Cox, leader of MICA - Middlesbrough Independent Councillors Association - said details of the proposed cuts came as a shock because of their range and the effect they would have.
“We have to support the mayor in the majority of these proposals but I will be opposing some of the proposals including the closure of the Southlands Centre. It is a focal point for activities in East Middlesbrough which has many deprived communities.”
Liberal Democrat councillor Maelor Williams said the 78 cuts were frightening in themselves - but to learn there were millions of pounds more still to be found was very worrying. He added residents might now have to travel further to access services.
Janet Greig, regional organiser of Unison, said: “Although the details of the cuts have not yet been made clear to the union the fact that Middlesbrough Council needs to find in excess of £50m over the next four years, starting with £14m this year on top of the cuts already made, is further evidence that the social and economic impact of the Governments cuts agenda on the area is potentially devastating.
“The union is committed to working with the council to try to avoid compulsory redundancies and protect vital services.”
Middlesbrough Labour MP Sir Stuart Bell said the cuts were scathing and unprecedented, reflecting the Government’s determination to reduce council expenditure.
“The consultation period should be used to vigorously oppose many of the cuts and to urge the council to be more concentrated and less extensive in the cuts it proposes,” he said.
“Cutting libraries, youth and community centres, children’s centres and Middlesbrough Deaf Centre will hardly add to the well-being of Middlesbrough folk.
“I shall be making my own response to the council.”
Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland Labour MP Tom Blenkinsop labelled the cuts as terrible and said the consequences for the borough and its people were terrifying.
“These cuts are not necessary, and (David) Cameron has forced these cuts upon Middlesbrough.
“This is the result of when Middlesbrough suffers a 9% budget cut by David Cameron, and rich Dorset receives a 1% budget increase.”
Mike Hopkins, principal and chief executive at Middlesbrough College, said the college “regretted” the announcement of the forthcoming major cuts to public services as a result of the Conservative led Coalition Government’s “austerity programme”.
“Middlesbrough College will do everything possible to minimise the impact of these cuts on families and students,” he said.
“We shall do our utmost to work with the Mayor, local authority officers, local schools and others, to ensure students continue to receive the education, training and opportunities which will allow them to lead happy and prosperous adult - and working - lives.”
A six-week public consultation process on the proposed cuts runs until Friday, November 18.
People wanting to take part can visit middlesbrough.gov.uk, email budget@middlesbrough.gov.uk or write to Budget Consultation Middlesbrough, PO Box 506, Strategic Resources, Middlesbrough Council, Civic Centre, TS1 9GA.
Middlesbrough cuts meeting 'felt like a funeral'
A SOLEMN atmosphere pervaded Middlesbrough Town Hall’s council chamber this week when the impact of the Government cuts for next year were spelled out.
For many councillors the scale and depth of the cuts was much greater than they expected.
Acklam councillor Shamal Biswas summed up the mood in the chamber when he said it was “like a funeral”.
Mayor Ray Mallon detailed the background to the cuts. The Chancellor’s Comprehensive Review announced last October meant the council would have to find savings of £50m over four years - inflation and other pressures meant that figure was now £52m.
He explained how the country’s deficit and the economic problems in the Eurozone were now having their impact on the streets on Middlesbrough.
He warned the council had to make millions of pounds more cuts in the next two years and if conditions worsened the Government might call on councils to make even bigger savings.
To a hushed chamber, Mr Mallon went on the detail all 78 cuts now being proposed.
“We are now in a social recession. There is a lack of confidence in the market place. We have to protect the vulnerable where we can, the universal services such as bin collections and street cleaning, the town centre which is the engine-room and we have to invest in youth,” he said.
Cllr Chris Hobson, the Conservative Group leader, said the whole council should work together for the good of the borough.
Cllrs Joan McTigue and Tom Mawston raised the issue of volunteers coming in to deliver some of the services such as libraries.
Cllr McTigue also asked what would happen to buildings being closed. She did not want to see them become vandalised and eyesores.
Mr Mallon said no final decisions had been taken and what happened to buildings would be considered then.
He said he was uncomfortable in putting forward the cuts proposals. They would be subject to six weeks of consultation and he was open to any suggestion about the way in which the council could save money.
Read More http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teess ... z1aFoviliM
danniboi
11:32 AM on October 7, 2011
"People living in the borough have also been urged by the borough’s Mayor to come forward with suggestions on where the authority could make budget savings"
REALLY: I have a few ideas but I dont think the council would like them.
Indie
11:52 AM on October 7, 2011
Is Stuart Bell and any of the other local MPs willing to give up any of their fnancial claims on the local tax payers then?
FatPAT
12:11 PM on October 7, 2011
In the early days, Mallon said that he would clean up the streets of riff-raff and anti-social behaviour, and to be fair it has improved a lot, but where are the kids going to go now once the youth and community centres close....back to square one I think!!
Ashboro
12:24 PM on October 7, 2011
I personally believe that all MP's should have their wages cut and ALL expenses stopped! Millions per year just on MP's and dont get me started on the ones in the troughs at the house of lords!
oggy
12:27 PM on October 7, 2011
Instead of closing services like libraries, they should start charging for things that area currently free to all intents and purposes, such as internet access (only £2.00 or so a year). If they won't charge, they should withdraw it altogether. The town can't afford such luxuries.
I'm glad they are getting rid of Tennis World. How many people play tennis round here? Priority should be given to services for the elderly and disabled. Sport is an extravagance.
Moorjock
12:46 PM on October 7, 2011
Some suggestions for our mayor:-
Any chance we can return the white elephant 'Temenos' back to its 'world acclaimed' architect for a cash refund.....presumably it's still under guarantee.
Rip out the elitist junk adorning the MIMA inner walls and convert the buildng into something really useful.....a community centre ?
Redirect the proposed ''passenger lifts up the Tranny'' to the 'unecessary projects' skip.
Dismantle the energy wasting big telly in centre square now..not in 2012 and send it back to Comet. Utilise it's massive concrete foundations to erect a wind turbine and generate some power this winter!
Organise a race around our newly opened state of the art Prissick cycle track (could we afford that one?) that last 10 councillors to finish will lose their jobs.
goodcopbadcop
1:02 PM on October 7, 2011
Mallon thinks he is an expert in handling the media, but he's not.He's got this one badly wrong. He tells the Gazette about the cuts before the people they are going to affect, Wrong decision. He blames the Government but it is him who has decided on the cuts he intends to make, Wrong decision. He has misjudged the public outcry. Now he leaks to the Gazette that £2m is owed in unpaid council tax. Wrong decision. Now he wants the public to come up with some ideas, too late, Wrong decision. At the end of the day he is not a good politician he is a failed cop who jumped before he was sacked. Sack him again.
amad0312
1:49 PM on October 7, 2011
The council have asked the public for suggestions on how to save money. Here is mine,
The current CEO of Middlesbrough Council is reportedly on a salary of around £145K + . More than David Cameron the current Prime Ministe. You could start by reducing his salary and the salary of others so thats it is actually proportional to the amount of work they actually do !!!!
goodcopbadcop
2:15 PM on October 7, 2011
Suggestions for cut backs.
Get rid of the Police Helecopter
Get rid of the Police Horse Section
Get rid of the elected Mayor.
Get rid of the Police Authority.
Sell Police HQ. Everyone has moved out anyway, staff sold off to Steria. Sale of Ladgate Lane would generate millions.
Stop the waste of money on silly sculpures and TV sets in the town.
Get rid of Mima or put it to some good use such as a Community based project.
Sell Tennis World by all means, I always thought it was privately owned anyway.
richn
2:41 PM on October 7, 2011
Its interesting to see all the Labour acolites each in turn, blame the Conservative government for the cuts.
Wake up smell the roses, the previous Labour Government and our local Labour Councilors are the ones responsible for the massive overspend bank loans on our future generations accounts.
Its funny how they can now find non core items to cut.
I have lived here for fifty five years and did not know we had a center in the Lake District,anyone used it?
valerm
3:02 PM on October 7, 2011
so how come he still gets a pay rise when we have lost our jobs
danniboi
3:10 PM on October 7, 2011
Closing down all these centres will just make people leave the town and go to use services elsewhere, is that not taking money from the town?
I think rather than close them, ways should be found to make each one profitable. However the council often give very little control to the people that run the centres to do so.
Why not trial it, give the people running the centres free reign to make there departments profitable, or alternatively tell each centre/department or service how much money they need to stay open; set them a target if they meet it then they should stay open.
I personally like the big TV in the square I have been around the UK and not many have this including Cambridge etc so it's a nice feature and I am sure if the advertising space on that screen was utilised and kept cheap people would pay to advertise on it.
The council should show people that they are taking some responsibility for the economic downturn, councillors, MPs and alike should set up a donation fund that THEY pay into. "would make a nice change to see how much they had personally contributed rather than how much their expenses are"
Lastly if research was done on how many individuals use each centre then you could then say right membership for this service is "x" amount divided by the total number of people regularly using the service. Give an even payment to everyone excluding oaps this will make up some of the short fall, alternatively talk with local firms already running similar business in the town. Goals on Stockton road is always busy because they provide a good quality service that people want, why not allow the managers/owners of such facilities to also run various sports at Clairville or other such centres. The main problem is all the centres are taking money and putting nothing back in through no fault of there own "let them take control" before it's to late.
finnsgran
3:26 PM on October 7, 2011
Firstly - Get rid of the mayor, we managed for decades without a paid one.
Get the government to approve larger wards in areas of least need to reduce the number of councillors - that would also ensure things got done faster, the fewer people in a meeting the shorter the meeting and the quicker decisions are made.
Get rid of 'executive' councillors who get £12000 plus on top of the £6000 plus they already get as councillors and stop all councillors claiming 'extra expenses' which run into hundreds of thousands of pounds. Most of these people are already either getting wages or are retired and getting pensions - why are we paying them even more?
sentinal1234
7:31 PM on October 7, 2011
Everybody understands we have to make savings but is ripping the guts out of the community the answer. If we close the community centres and reduce the street wardens do we really think there wont be more nuisance crime.
sentinal1234
7:32 PM on October 7, 2011
Does the council truly believe that the young people of the town will all go to 'myplace' in custom house? What about the complete waste of money spent on some of these buildings to close? The southlands centre has just had a new lift at a cost of approx 120k completed in September. Last year it had a considerable amount of money spent on it for a new fire detection system, the year before a complete refit of one of the annexes etc. Yes the council could run the new 1.3 million all weather sports pitch from another site but how would the investment be protected from vandalism.
sentinal1234
7:34 PM on October 7, 2011
No doubt the council are counting on the value of the southlands site as a a building area to attract builders, new housing increasing the council tax income and getting a back hander from the government for building on brown fill land. Yes the southlands is a tired old building but it is far more than a leisure centre it supports businesses and education in the heart of the community. The council are investing in improving the teaching and learning centre right now it is covered in scaffolding. Yet this building is as old as the southlands and only supports council workers.
Come to the southlands any night of the week and the car park is full of people attending evening classes or the gym. A lot of people use this centre! Can we expect the same service from the neptune centre which is really the only nearby leisure centre. What of the parking are we all to park in Morrisons?
tonyd
7:36 PM on October 7, 2011
The council needs to consider alternative delivery mechanisms for cultural facilities including leisure and libraries ,for example a cultural charitable Trust .Substantial savings in rates together with vat exemptions could generate savings in excess of 10 million over 10 years .MIMA could also be included .Both Stockton and Redcar and Cleveland operate these models which allow a wide range of stakeholders to participate in the management and provide a more sustainable model for the future Has this been considered rather than closure I wonder ?
spragger1
9:40 PM on October 7, 2011
Here is an easy £86,000 pa that could be saved.
http://middlesbrough-council.com/forum/ ... =421#p4068
Indie
9:55 PM on October 7, 2011
Finnisgran - it might be an idea for you to get your facts right next time. That stopped overf9 years ago. Many claim nothing but some insist on claiming mileage and that's it - nothing more than that.
goodcopbadcop
11:10 PM on October 7, 2011
Indie, are you for real, who do you think owns the Police Headquarters, who do you think pays for the Police Helecopter and Horses, vehicles and everyting else. Who pays the Police wages, Who owns and maintains the buildings they work from. Obviously the Police Fairygodmother. Have you had a look at how your council tax is broken down and used, Please have an adult explain it to you.
Indie
12:56 AM on October 8, 2011
goodcop - you cannot sack an elected mayor. You can only wait until the next election and vote for another. At least 50% of those on the Police Authority are NOT cllrs. Any money made from the sale of Ladgate Lane cannot be used to keep any youth club etc open. The Police Authority is already going.
Indie
3:04 PM on October 8, 2011
danniboy - the council did not sell of council houses - they were givin away as part of a deal.
If goodcop thinks that the council control the police, own the police, can tell the police how to spend its money etc - let him go on believing that - the rest of us know better than to think that. How on earth he thinks we can sack Mallon is beyond me?
valerm
3:50 PM on October 8, 2011
how is these cuts saving when he is using all the money on a sports village on an already over crowed road ,marton cross roads,who need a new sports village anyway with all the job losses he has done no one will be able to afford to go to this village why do we need one wen we hade enough before he decided to close them all ,beats me
interceptor12
3:57 PM on October 8, 2011
PEOPLE OF MIDDLESBROUGH DO LIKE
MIDDLESBROUGH POLICE GET RID OF THIS JOKE OF A MAYOR AND MOVE MIDDLESBROUGH FORWARD
WE NEED A MAYOR WHO WILL FIGHT TO SAVE NOT ALL CUTS BUT THE VITAL ONES FOR OUR REGION NEED I SAY MORE,
Read More http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teess ... z1aFqplotd
