£2.3m 'savings' threaten Hounslow children's services (From Croydon Guardian)

£2.3m 'savings' threaten Hounslow children's services

1:05pm Wednesday 4th March 2009 in

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An internationally renowned language service faces massive funding cuts after Hounslow Council approved £2.3m savings to children’s services in this year’s budget.

Hounslow Language Service (HLS) provides specialist support to more than 7,000 pupils from ethnic minorities to develop their English.

Teachers protested outside the Civic Centre ahead of the budget meeting last night, where 12 councillors submitted petitions containing hundreds of signatures from schools across the borough.

But council leader Peter Thompson said the £517,000 funds would not be paid for by taxpayers and schools would have to subsidise the cash.

Marilyn Bater, secretary of Hounslow Teachers’ Association, feared the cuts would lead to teachers and assistants losing their jobs, damaging the education of vulnerable pupils and schools’ cohesion policies.

She said: “It will drastically affect the ability of schools to cope with the rising number of pupils needing English language support across Hounslow.”

The council will also withdraw £330,000 from the Junior Youth Inclusions Programmes, which works to steer young people away from crime, and from the Connexions drop-in centre which gives advice and guidance to teenagers.

A total of £6.9m cuts have been planned for this year as part of the council’s improvement plan, which has helped achieve a zero per cent rise in council tax for the third consecutive year.

Coun Thompson said local services “must work smarter and harder” and the budget provided “value for money and efficiency.” The council tax freeze would save each household £143 a year, he said.

The opposition Labour Group, which argued for a reduction in council tax, described the joint Tory and Independent administration as “breathtakingly arrogant” and “totally selfish” for refusing to support its proposals.

Coun Jagdish Sharma, leader of the Labour Group, said: “Their arrogance is totally unbelievable. We gave them the option of a legal budget that would reduce the council tax for everyone while taking action to reduce crime and clean up the borough.”

Deputy leader Ruth Cadbury added: “The Conservatives showed they were totally selfish. They are hogging the cash and lining their own pockets with hundreds of thousands of pounds in Members’ Allowances, but they won’t reduce the amount people have to pay in tax.”