Council are not making cuts to vulnerable, Joe Mooney tells the world via BBC Berkshire Options

[Richard Garvie]

Joe Mooney was on BBC Berkshire this morning telling everyone that he "doesn't know of the cuts" that I speak about, but the council are actually investing more on adult social care. For you Joe, let me explain the cuts that you are making to ASC:

5 Day Centres closing, four being "reshaped", cuts to support groups etc: £2.2m
180 staff cuts (140 care workers): £4.4m
Bus service and concessionary fare cuts: £200,000

Other cuts to vulnerable people:

Education budget cut by 8.4% (£872,000)... Didn't Barbara Alexander come out before Christmas saying there would be no cuts to education?
Youth Service cut by 18.5% (£496,000)

There will also be a further £2.9m cut to adult social care in next years budget.

I would suggest that our Adult Social Care portfolio holder needs to be better informed, or needs to stop misleading people.

[Andy Capp]

While you all indulge in you point scoring and chest beating, would someone explain what is happening? Will people be denied services or not?

Is this a case of the council not explaining itself properly? Instead of closing centres, it should say, transferring centres, if that is what it means. Otherwise, it allows misinformation to be propagated.

[Richard Garvie]

While you all indulge in you point scoring and chest beating, would someone explain what is happening? Will people be denied services or not?

Is this a case of the council not explaining itself properly? Instead of closing centres, it should say, transferring centres, if that is what it means. Otherwise, it allows misinformation to be propagated.

Out of everyone who has posted on this thread, it would appear that only I have been meeting the users of the day centres and local support groups to find out how this budget will affect them. I promise my life that some people will no longer be able to attend day centres. I promise my life that there were service users at the council meeting tonight telling me how specialist equipment is being ripped out of the Phoenix Centre and not being replaced. I genuinely get upset about this topic, and maybe that's why I get so heated when discussing it here.

The councillor responsible is Joe Mooney. He said on the radio today that he doesn't know of the cuts I was talking about and that of the £8m cuts, the elderly and disabled will not be affected. How he can blatantly lie on the radio, and then refuse to come outside and meet those protesting tonight is shamefull.

I am happy to lead a tour of day centres for any members on this forum or wherever, to come and meet service users who will be affected by these cuts. People who are being left with no choice but to never leave their homes. People who are having their only respite taken away from them. User23 / Dannyboy, put your money where your mouth is and come and see for yourself what these cuts will do to people in the district.

My mobile number is 07593 278690 and my email is info@richardgarvie.com. I have nothing to hide, and the ball is firmly in your court. If you want to snipe at me, fine. I don't care. What I do care about is when you are trying to discredit genuine arguments about peoples lifestyle because of a petty vendetta against me for daring to challenge the council.