Serious concerns have been expressed by Truro and Falmouth Labour Party about the impact of Government cuts on the most vulnerable people locally.

Up to £300 a week will be withdrawn from vulnerable people with care needs by 2015. Labour’s ‘independent living fund’ which supported people to live in their own homes while receiving the care and support they need, is to be axed.

Abolition of the independent living fund is likely to mean that in future residential care will be the only available option for some people with high levels of need. This will increase demands on local authority budgets for social care which are already under severe pressure.

On top of this, it was announced on Wednesday 22 December that up to 100 Cornwall Council jobs caring for and supporting vulnerable people will go. This will affect at least 1000 vulnerable adults across Cornwall, including people in Truro and Falmouth.

Labour’s ‘Supporting People’ funds are no longer ring-fenced and so are subject to bigger cuts. This will have a huge negative impact on care for some of Cornwall’s most vulnerable adults who want to live independently. The Tory led Cornwall Council previously claimed they would protect vulnerable people from the impact of cuts.

These heartless cuts will make life harder for many people in Cornwall. We challenge Sarah Newton MP to explain to her constituents why she has abandoned her promise to support ‘compassionate’ policies which protect the vulnerable.

Unless it is overturned by the House of Lords on Tuesday 14 December, the decision – which was supported by Falmouth’s MP Sarah Newton – is likely to go ahead.

People are joining together to support the Falmouth protest being organised by local students and the University and College Union to voice concern about the impact that Government funding cuts could have on education and the local economy.

On Falmouth Moor from 1pm on Wednesday 8 December, students, Trades Unions, and community representatives plan to protest against the planned increase in student fees, cuts to university funding, and Cornwall Council cuts.

The demonstration is being supported by Truro and Falmouth Labour Party, who called on Cornish MPs and Councillors to vote against plans to cut local services and triple student fees.

MPs will vote on student fees on Thursday 9 June. Sarah Newton MP has made it clear she supports the Government plans to triple students fees, slash EMA allowances, and cut university funding for teaching.

Cornwall Councillors voted through an emergency budget on Friday 3 December, which could be looked at again in January 2011 when it is known how much funding Cornwall Council will get from central Government. The four Falmouth and Penryn Cornwall Councillors who attended the meeting on Friday voted for the budget which will mean cuts to local services and job losses.

Labour community campaign organiser Chris Gibson said:

“Community groups, Trades Unions, and local representatives need to work together to save local services and jobs, and resist the impact of Tory and Liberal Democrat funding cuts.

“If this Government’s University funding cuts go ahead a generation of talented students could miss out on university all together. Most students, parents, and grandparents in Cornwall simply can’t afford to face debts of £27,000 to pay for a university education, that is more than most workers in Cornwall earn in a year.

“If the local government settlement is as bad as feared, Cornwall Council should be prepared to draw on its reserves or make savings in non-essential spending like the Royal Cornwall Show for a few years rather than cut valued services for children, young people, pensioners, and people with disabilities.

“A broad based Coalition for Cornwall will be coming together here on Wednesday made up of community representatives, students, Trades Unionists, and politicians.

“Together we can make Cornwall Council and the Government rethink plans that will damage local services, jobs, and the economy.”

Labour has slammed the emergency budget agreed by Cornwall Council on Friday as heartless and irresponsible saying Councillors who voted for the budget are putting money before the needs of people in Cornwall.

The agreed budget includes cuts to adult social care and children’s services as well as advice services, libraries, and leisure centres. It is the failure to reconsider these cuts which was described as “heartless” by Labour. The cuts could mean some services being reduced or closing at local day centres, children’s centres, one stop shops, libraries, and leisure centres.

Labour joined Trades Union and other protesters outside County Hall on Friday who lobbied Councillors as they arrived for the meeting. Protesters included local government workers from Unison and the GMB whose members are facing up to 2000 Council job losses. Other protesters included Truro students and carers concerned that the cuts will reduce support for young people, the elderly, and people with disabilities.

Truro and Falmouth Labour Party member Chris Gibson said “We will support community campaigns to save local services and Trades Unions fight against job losses in Cornwall.”

Some Councillors voting on Friday said they were unclear what the cuts will mean for the people they represent, because the meeting papers do not specify how services will be affected.

The Tory led administration approved the cuts days before they even know how much funding it will get in 2011. Taking such major financial decisions without all the information to hand was condemned by Labour as “irresponsible”.

The Council will now start cutting services and up to 2000 jobs from January 2011, instead of waiting for the new financial year.

Labour in Truro and Falmouth today called on Cornwall Councillors to rethink severe cuts to jobs and services being decided on Friday 3 December. The Council is facing Government cuts to its budget next year, but may cut its support for local services from January 2011.

Labour says the cuts put money before people. The plans would have a devastating effect on Cornwall’s economy causing unemployment to rise; Labour called on the Council to make savings which would protect services and more jobs.

If the Council’s plans go ahead people in Cornwall will see cuts to our:

• Adult social care services
• Childrens services and community centres
• Libraries and leisure facilities
• Advice services and one stop shops
• Bus services
• Transport plans and the environment
• Waste services.

Labour welcomes planned investment in Falmouth docks and a Medical Innovation Centre, but the Council job losses will far outweigh any immediate benefits of new schemes for local workers.

The Tory dominated Council is running ahead of the Tory and Liberal Democrat Coalition Government in making these cuts. While Liberal Democrat councillors plan to vote against the cuts, this is hypocritical as the Tories would not be able to cut Council funding without the support of Liberal Democrat MPs.

Notes:

1. Adult social care services have already been cut back in recent years and Labour thinks the “uplift” is needed and should be taken off the list of further cuts.

2. Childrens services. Labour wants childrens and community centres, and advice services for young people, to be protected from budget cuts.

3. Advice services. Shelter is warning that Government cuts to housing benefit will increase homelessness in Cornwall and Labour says more funding, not less, is needed for welfare advice services including CAB and one stop shops.

4. Young people. Labour opposes Government cuts to Educational Maintenance Allowances and Council plans to cut transport subsidies
for post-16 students.

5. Transport and waste. Spending on roads, increasing Truro park & ride charges, cutting plans for sustainable transport, and removing recycling banks will make Cornwall less green.

About 150 Truro students joined the protests against Coalition cuts in education last Wednesday, walking from the College campus to County Hall.

The purpose of their campaign is to stop the Tories and Liberal Democrats trebling university fees, which would deter many from going to University and saddle the not-so well off with huge debts on graduation.

Students studying for A levels may also lose their Educational Maintenance Grants which will made it possible for students from lower income families to go to College.

Arriving at County Hall the protesting students were addressed by Unison regional organiser Stuart Roden who said
“These cuts are not only an attack on students but on teachers and low paid workers in further and higher education.  It is essential that workers and students stand together in solidarity to fight these unnecessary cuts and protect  our education system”.

Student Josiah Mortimer also spoke to the rally, saying
“Every Lib Dem MP pledged to vote against a rise in tuition fees – and we must pressure them to keep that promise. A national movement against these unfair cuts to education and the public sector is growing, and thousands of students across the country are saying to the Coalition: we are the big society, we are all in this together, and we will resist these savage cuts by uniting with workers and communities.”

Truro and Falmouth Labour Party is supporting local students’ calls for the Coalition Government to scrap plans to allow university tuition fees to rise to £9000pa.

During the 2010 general election campaign the Conservatives did not rule out student fee increases, but every Liberal Democrat candidate – including those who are now Cornish MPs – supported the National Union of Students’ pledge, promising to vote against any increase in fees if they were elected.

Now the Coalition Government has said universities may be able to charge up to £9000 pa fees – this is three times the current maximum which is capped at £3000. At the same time, the Government plans to cut university funding, increasing the pressure on universities to charge higher fees to make up their lost income.

Many students from ordinary families are likely to be discouraged from going to university by massive fees increases. Students, parents, and grandparents oppose the fee increases and supported Truro students’ petition and protests.

The effect of these changes would be to unfairly switch the burden of paying for university education onto graduates who will leave university with up to £27,000 personal debt from tuition fees – possibly more, when living costs are taken into consideration.

The Coalition Government are planning to rob Peter to pay Paul. The cuts to public spending on universities will be carried as individual and personal debt by future graduates. Well funded universities are a vital part of the UK economy. It is unfair to switch the burden of investing in universities onto the shoulders of a generation of young people.

In Truro on Wednesday 24 November Labour Party members will be supporting the student demonstration from Truro College to County Hall which will call on MPs to vote against fee increases.

Truro students have mounted Cornwall’s first protest against the Coalition’s cuts. 100 students held a vibrant rally on Lemon Quay. They were protesting at the trebling of student tuition fees, a 90% cut in the Educational Maintenance Allowance for post 16 students, and a halving of the Higher Education  budget which could see many Universities and Colleges close as market forces take hold.

The focus of their protest was the Liberal Democrats breaking their pre-election promise to hold tuition fees at their current level, and the vicious Tory policy of cutting back places and making access harder to all but the very rich. They visited the Liberal Democrat offices and the Tory Club in Lemon Quay and made their points to good effect.

The protest lasted about three hours. They kept the passing public entertained with chants and impromptu forays around the centre of Truro. Speeches from Jenn Forbes and Cllr Charlotte MacKenzie were enthusiastically received.

This successful event was supported by local Labour Party and University and College Union members.

Nearly one thousand people had signed their petition by last Wednesday.

“We are very happy the protest was a success. The energy people put behind it in just a few days was unbelievable and we really made our voices heard”, said student Max Stephens. “Support  came from pinstripe executives to elderly couples expressing concern and anger at the Lib Dems  broken pledge “, added Max.

Another student Joe Mortimer said, ” Students in Cornwall are beginning to realise how the education cuts and rises in University fees will affect them. That’s why the demo in Truro was a great way of raising support locally about the devastating impact the Lib Dem betrayal  will have on young people across the county and nationwide.” He concluded, “We will make sure our voices are heard and we will not accept this massive and unfair increase in fees.”

Responding to today’s Comprehensive Spending Review announcements by Chancellor George Osborne, Charlotte MacKenzie said:

“These Tory cuts won’t lead to fairness or growth.

“They are bad for the jobs and welfare of people in Cornwall.

“The cuts will have a hugely negative impact. They are bigger than they were made to sound because, for example, if Council funding falls by 7 per cent a year that will mean a 28 per cent cut by 2015.

“The announcements will have a particularly negative impact on young people – Educational Maintenance Allowances are vital for many families in Cornwall, and it is unclear how much of this much-valued support will be available in future.

“The job losses and massive cuts to spending by the public sector will have a negative impact on Cornwall’s economy.

“Relying on the private sector to deliver the switch to green technology will slow the pace of change that is needed and the growth of this economic sector which is important to Cornwall.

“Growing demands and the aging population mean funding increases for health and social care will not result in service improvements.”

How many times do people in Falmouth need to let Post Office Ltd know that moving the main post office to Market Strand won’t work.

The Moor is Falmouth’s main stopping place for buses, disabled parking, and taxis. It was designed partly to meet the needs of the many people who rely on the post office.

Market Strand is not suitable as it lacks adequate parking and is a busy thoroughfare which is often congested with traffic.

The people of Falmouth have twice fought successfully to block plans to move (or close) the post office.

Falmouth Labour Party is backing the local campaign to keep the post office on Falmouth Moor.

To make your views known during the six week consultation:

E-mail consultation@postoffice.co.uk

Write to:

Post Office Ltd,

c/o National Consultation Team,

PO BOX 2060,

Watford,

WD18 8ZW.

Phone 08457 223344.