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.

[dannyboy]

"service users" - from the same phrase book again!

I don't need to have you lead me on a tour of the centres that are closing. Thanks anyway.

The centres that are closing were closing anway. Problem is you can't just pin a notice up & have everyone who was making use of one place pop along to another. Buildings need to be made suitable & that costs, it costs money that no council has. Provision will be made & to the best ability given the reduced budgets.

And talking of budgets, it would not matter if you had all the detail in the World - without knowing what that money was actually used for you couldn't show savings without making promises that could never be kept. That, IMHO is the real reason the local Labour Party has not released a budget for 2011/12

If you feel so passionate about things, instead of directing your energies at pointless point scoring why not do something positive?

[Richard Garvie]

"service users" - from the same phrase book again!

I don't need to have you lead me on a tour of the centres that are closing. Thanks anyway.

The centres that are closing were closing anway. Problem is you can't just pin a notice up & have everyone who was making use of one place pop along to another. Buildings need to be made suitable & that costs, it costs money that no council has. Provision will be made & to the best ability given the reduced budgets.

And talking of budgets, it would not matter if you had all the detail in the World - without knowing what that money was actually used for you couldn't show savings without making promises that could never be kept. That, IMHO is the real reason the local Labour Party has not released a budget for 2011/12

If you feel so passionate about things, instead of directing your energies at pointless point scoring why not do something positive?

Danny, ask your friend Graham to make the 2011 / 2012 budget books available. Then I will put a budget together. How can I put an alternative budget together without an accurate starting position? Even the budget books from last year that were published do not include the in year savings that were made a few months ago, so it is impossible to even start with that information.

So what you are saying is that we don't have the funds to alter the remaining buildings, so people will be left without day centres to attend. I thought nobody was going to be affected by the cuts Danny?

[dannyboy]

Danny, ask your friend Graham to make the 2011 / 2012 budget books available. Then I will put a budget together. How can I put an alternative budget together with a starting position? Even the budget books from last year that were published do not include the in year savings that were made a few months ago, so it is impossible to even start with that information.

So what you are saying is that we don't have the funds to alter the remaining buildings, so people will be left without day centres to attend. I thought nobody was going to be affected by the cuts Danny?

See, you can't help yourself. I have a lot of friends, but not a single one called Graham.
Instead of just accepting that there might be folk out there who disagree with you - all by themselves - you have to infer that there is some kind of tory smear campaign to which I am a party.

[Richard Garvie]

See, you can't help yourself. I have a lot of friends, but not a single one called Graham.
Instead of just accepting that there might be folk out there who disagree with you - all by themselves - you have to infer that there is some kind of tory smear campaign to which I am a party.

Ok, I'll take your word that you have nothing to do with him.

How can I prepare a budget without any accurate detail?

I thought you said people wouldn't be affected by cuts?

[Richard Garvie]

Danny, you always expect answers from me. Can you answer these for me please?

I thought you said people wouldn't be affected by cuts?

[dannyboy]

Danny, you always expect answers from me. Can you answer these for me please?

I don't see why I should as you never give a straight answer.

But, I said the level of service would not be affected. I even qualified it by saying that there would be change & that some would find that change upsetting.

[Richard Garvie]

I don't see why I should as you never give a straight answer.

But, I said the level of service would not be affected. I even qualified it by saying that there would be change & that some would find that change upsetting.

But the level of service is being affected. Five centres are closing and some people will not have the option of using a day centre.