Social Care 2015: Better Guidance, Better Care – Better – is what the Government has been promising for many months. While I looked after my mother for over 25 months (since April 2012), social care services from Ealing Council have been dreadful. I am very sorry for those that are alone and need care. Apparently Social Care will face many cuts in 2015.

These are just a few headlines on what is to come for 2015.

Ealing Council rejected the Liberal Democrat call-in for scrutiny of day care centre closures in the borough. Local Lib Dems recommended a delay in the closure of Carlton Road and other centres such as the Solace Centre , Elm and Sycamore Lodges, so ‘a proper and thorough review can be carried out of the needs of people who use these facilities’.

Labour chief (Julian Bell) in social housing owns £1m home round the corner: Councillor branded a ‘hypocrite’ after buying property while staying on as housing association tenant

• Julian Bell bought five-bedroom property in West London seven years ago
• Councillor stayed on as a housing association tenant despite purchase 
• The 55-year-old has protested at housing shortages and Coalition cuts
• Critics urged him to give up social housing to ‘people who really need it’

Ealing Borough’s rubbish and recycling collection is to be downgraded from weekly to fortnightly and wheelie bins are on the way.

More than 400 staff at Ealing Council are facing redundancy as the borough grapples to save £96 million. Local services – already under pressure – face further hardship with children and youth services facing cuts of nearly £3million. Meanwhile the Brent Lodge Animal Centre will have to find new ways of funding and will lose £100,000 from April 2017.

A popular children’s play centre which has proved to be a lifeline for many parents is threatened with closure. The free drop-in centre in Lammas Park is one of many services Ealing council says will have to be cut in a bid to balance the books.

Pupils protest after lollipop women axed by Ealing Council

A new CPZ will be introduced in the Little Ealing area after a vote by local residents. 1749 consultations were sent out in the core area (shown in purple on map) 553 were returned, ie 32% responded – 60% of those who did told the council they wanted the CPZ for two periods of one hour each. Of the roads questioned 87% voted in favour of a CPZ on Chandos Avenue, 83% on Ealing Park Gardens, 77% on Radbourne Avenue and 71% on Darwin Road. [Worth remembering that Ealing FIRST creates the problems and afterwards will seek for solutions].

The video on YouTube states “cutting costs and being more efficient”!! My question is: “how will Ealing Council be more efficient”? Money is WASTED on wrong policies and, what it seems to be, bad supervision. I have seen Ealing Council vans parked on side streets for hours – the “workers” having… a cup of tea. I know, out of my own experience that social services are wasting thousands of pounds on incredibly bad management. Roads are a mess but millions of Pounds are spend on bad policies; our money. The MANAGEMENT, those at the top are to blame, too busy to keep their job, they are only interested to show vast amounts of paperwork and policies that lead to…nothing! They have been voted into power and, statistically, it has been a mess and a downhill ‘affair’ since last elections. It is easy to blame the Government but it is a fact that Ealing is becoming one of the poorest Council in London.

This article is taken from Ealingtoday.co.uk

‘Unprecedented’ cuts will mean changing or stopping some council services

It’s looking like it will be a bleak start to 2015 in Ealing after the council announced it still has to cut almost £9 million (by mid-Feb) to balance the books.

Local services – already under presssure – face further hardship with children and youth services facing cuts of nearly £3million. Meanwhile the Brent Lodge Animal Centre will have to find new ways of funding and will lose £100,000 from April 2017.

Despite agreeing more than £53 million of cuts in the past two months, Ealing Council still needs to find almost another £43million if it is to reduce its budget by £96 million by April 2019.

At a meeting of the council’s cabinet last night (Tuesday, 16 December 2014) councillors heard that they still needed to agree £26 million of budget reductions in order to reach the savings’ target for the year ahead.  Of this money, £8.6 million must be found by mid-February if the council is to balance its budget. This will mean that the council’s cabinet will need to consider further budget reductions when it meets in January and February.

The council expects its core government funding to be significantly reduced over the next few years. It will hear in the run up to Christmas exactly how much funding it will get from the government for the year ahead. If central government budget reductions are greater than expected then further cuts will be needed.

The council has already pledged to freeze council tax again next year. To cover the savings’ target through council tax every household’s bill would need to roughly double.

Councillor Julian Bell, leader of the council, said: “With less money we have no choice but to change or stop some services. The chancellor made it clear in his autumn statement that the public sector will continue to be hit by swingeing and relentless cuts for years to come. Local government has been deliberately and disproportionately targeted with more cuts than any other part of the public sector so there can be no surprises that local services are being affected.

“We are still significantly short of our budget reduction target for this year and must find almost £9 million before mid-February in order to balance our budget, which means further tough choices in the new year.”

Councillor Yvonne Johnson, cabinet member for finance, performance and welfare, said: ”The scale of cuts that we are making is unprecedented and every service is affected. It has been suggested that the council should use its reserves but the truth is that 61% of this money has already been allocated to projects like expanding schools and building new homes. Around 20% belongs to local schools and the remaining 19% is our safety net should we face an emergency. It can only be spent once and then it will be gone.

“We will continue to drive down costs, be as fair as possible in the decisions we take and run the council according to the priorities we were elected to deliver. We aim to attract more businesses into the borough, which will create new jobs and increase our income from business rates; ensure more affordable homes are built; and push for the best healthcare services for our residents.”

The council has more information about the budget con its website www.ealing.gov.uk/budget A video was produced (at no cost to the council with help from residents) it can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfTxoV6XRmM&list=UUoI9fzIsjNbPOOMnTO6fxhQ

17th December 2014