Youth cuts dominate Regent’s Park ward Area Forum

Youth cuts to the Samuel Lithgow youth club dominated last night’s area forum, held at Netley School on William Street.

Samuel Lithgow, a local charity, is the only youth club on the estate – serving hundreds of local children out of a property owned by the council.

Over the last year the charity has – with the help of local councillors and the West Euston Partnership – secured a £350,000 contribution from British Land (from the Osnaburgh Street development), which helped a successful £400,000 contribution from the Big Lottery.

Despite this, the hard work of local volunteers has been undermined by a cut of over 30% in core funding – threatening the future of the youth club and its work with young people in the area while the centre is shut for rebuilding from the end of this year.

Without continued funding by the council the ability of Samuel Lithgow to operate effectively even after the rebuild is compromised.

The council defence – put across by the leader of the council recently - is that “more money is going into youth projects” than before. Actually this is being spent on programmes run elsewhere by the council, which cannot be used for staff wages. Without the funds to pay ‘core’ costs, youth projects have trouble recruiting and retaining staff, leading to a deteriorating service – with shorter hours.

What has happened to Lithgow has also happened to Fresh in Highgate, Queen’s Crescent and the Haven in Camden Town.

It’s not like this is a question of resources – the council have just admitted another massive underspend of £10 million. Just to give you an idea, to keep the Lithgow going would cost around £30,000 – 0.3% of this total.

Instead of stashing our cash – Camden should fund the Samuel Lithgow properly.

More youth cuts as we approach summer

It’s looking like hard year next year for Camden’s youth centres after another round of cuts by the Tory and Lib Dem administration.

After cuts to Queen’s Crescent, The Haven, Highgate New Town in this year’s funding commissioning process – the Samuel Lithgow on the Regent’s Park Estate now faces reductions - despite being in a high area of need.

Samuel Lithgow Youth Centre (SLYC) funding from Camden Youth & Connexions Service has been slashed from £45,000 in 2007/2008 to £29,792 in 2008/2009 - over 34% of funding slashed overnight.

What’s worse is that this decision to cut funding flies in the face of the hard work local volunteers have done towards raising £1,000,000 to fully refurbish Samuel Lithgow building (which belongs to LB Camden). When SLYC is shut for refurbishment/extension in December, for a year, it will need an extra £15,000 to rent local venues to deliver our services and to hire an office space.

It will also lose income from the fact that groups who normally rent the space will go elsewhere.

Meanwhile, the council seems to have no plan for what replacement services there will be to cover the shortfall. As everyone on the Regent’s Park estate knows – youth issues are on the rise, so cutting Samuel Lithgow makes no sense at all. This is just another set of cuts in a long line of post-2006 council funding decisions.

Camden weakens Street wardens in hotspots

Good news and bad news for local people with Camden’s excellent Street Warden service.

One the one hand they have been given new powers – and can now issue fines. On the other hand, the service has been diluted - a move labelled "naive" by local residents.

So the experience street wardens have gathered over the years in the hotspots of Kings Cross, Bloomsbury and Camden Town is now diluted.

(Not a peep, I should add, from Camden Town Lib Dem councillors Chris Naylor or Libby Campbell, over the last year on this issue - something which will come back to haunt them).

I say diluted, because with no increase in resources or personnel the wardens service will be much weaker now that it covers all of Camden.

Street Wardens were a good service because they grew trust over time locally, and were respected - especially on the estates.

Wardens were also proactive in ways PCSO aren't - organising football tournaments with local Somali kids hanging out on the streets.

How on earth warden with experience of ASBOs in Camden Town will be able to identify suspects when walking in Fortune Green is a puzzle to me – a point I raised at the Camden Town Unlimited meeting yesterday.

Remember - there was an alternative – Camden Labour promised to establish a fully-funded Street Warden service across the borough in our 2006 manifesto.

Recap of 2006/2007 Budget cuts in Camden

The councillors approved £23 million in budget cuts in 2007-8, with over £40 million in the next three years, affecting the following:

- 350 jobs slashed
- £3m cuts to children's services, including play scheme closures plus support to vulnerable children reduced
- £9.8m cuts to Housing and Adult Social care with 170 job losses
- 20% hike in community meals charges
- Cuts in Welfare Rights and Camden Language Services
- Cuts in funding to the voluntary sector
- Inflation-busting 5.3% rent rise for council tenants
- Major upheavals in hostels with 60 jobs to go in homelessness services
- end to door-to-door recycling schemes on council estates
- Enforcement initiatives in the planning department deleted.
- Slash street ‘gully cleansing’ team
- 3am street cleaning in entertainment hotspots such as Camden Town and Covent Garden cut.
- Reduction of posts in Youth Offending Team.
- Schools music service under review.
- Grants to voluntary services reduced by 12% in real terms over 3 years.
- Boulevard project scaled down.

The administration combined this with above inflation hikes in fees and charges:

- Meals on Wheels dinners for the elderly to rise by 50p each (or nearly £300 a year for a couple)
- Surviving play after school and holiday play schemes to be more expensive.
- Cemetery charges up.
- More expensive fees for pest control.
- Higher fees for hiring out the Camden Centre and other council buildings.

See press reports from the demonstration here:
http://libcom.org/news/town-hall-riot-over-cuts-camden-01032007

http://www.thecnj.com/camden/022207/news022207_01.html

Polly Toynbee: http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2037972,00.html