Forum Topic

Ealing Council/Labour Group prioritises skateboards over disabled centre

I have followed the discussions elsewhere in this Forum about the Ealing Council Labour cuts and I found the facts about the skateboard park funding not being pre-allocated in any concrete way as "unveiled" made by Councillor Phil Taylor very worrying. It would appear that the £60,000 earmarked for the skateboard park is not ring-fenced (in spite of what other people have propagandised) and could be spent on the two day centres that are being closed. Surely £60,000 is a non-trivial sum of money that could be spent on bringing the day centres up to scratch if they are indeed "not fit for purpose" as the Labour Group would have us believe? Why are we taking money from humanitarian activities like disabled support from the dand putting it into entertainment, which is surely what a skateboard park is?

Maggie Tomlinson ● 5587d7 Comments

It must be me,but it seems "cheap shots" are probably in the eye of the beholder. They're everywhere aren't they Phil?

Tony Wood ● 5581d

Libby,That is a bit of a cheap shot.  That £6 million has been spent 50 times over.  The money came from a windfall, not from our regular income, and we figured that it was appropriate to give it back to people.  Rightly or wrongly we used the £50 cash back to underline to people that the Tories are mindful that we were spending their money.  Value for money was one of our three priorities so highlighting it was entirely appropriate.  It was what we stood for.  Too many people are happy to spend other people's money with abandon.  That is why our country has a deficit running at £150 billion per annum.  That is the equivalent of every taxpayer putting £5,000 on their credit cards every year. We did this last year (£155 billion) and we will do pretty much the same this year (£150 billion). 

Phil Taylor ● 5582d

Just a pity the the tories threw away £6 million trying to buy votes, this money would have paid for both and a bit more.

Libby Kemp ● 5582d

Phil, Who are these council officers? We used to see some of them at Area Committees and they used to have to take questions from the public. We don't see them now. We don't even know their names. I have a few names of officers who have been helpful, hardworking, honest and courteous. And I know some who don't come up to scratch. This is a time when we need more scrutiny of the officers. Perhaps they should go before the assets they are determined to sell.

Arthur Breens ● 5583d

Yes Phil it is Bonkers and considering that they are using the spin of personalised care and that also the users do not yet know whether they will be entitled to it is pretty shabby. the thing about the albert dane centre was that a third party was prepared to repair it and run it but the council were not interested. That centre apparently is the only place in the borough with all the equipment to deal with severely disabled users. so let us say that the council leader and also the portfolio holder themselves are being disingenuous not their opposition.

Peter Chadburn ● 5584d

Maggie,As Jeff says the skate park budget is £200K and indeed the wider project is £519K.  I don't have a problem with this spend.  It was a promise made some time ago and it is important I think that we deliver this facility for young people.  The Ealing Labour party has contrived to delay this project by 18 months so it would be a shame if young people lost this facility due to Labour's political game playing.  The first problem with the day centres is that the council's own officers don't like, value or understand them.  Every year for four years they proposed to the old Conservative administration that we shut them and every year we told them to go away and think again.  This new Labour council has not got the skills or the confidence to do that and it meekly agreed when the proposal came up this time.  The second problem with the day centres is that the Labour group has bought into the council's property strategy.  In essence this sees the council selling off a range of assets to fund three shiny new satellite offices for council staff in Southall, Greenford and Acton.  Again this is not a new idea.  The "hub" strategy was put up to the Tory administration four years ago and thrown out as it prioritises spending on council accommodation.  The Tories chose to focus capital spending on schools, roads, the new Northolt swimming pool and parks, things that the public might enjoy rather than council staff.  Labour want to focus on new buildings for council staff.  If the Tories were in power we would be under pressure too and I am sure we would look to lose the revenue cost of day centres.  The way we might approach it would be to offer the day centre sites to third sector bodies who would be prepared to maintain them and provide a service in return for taking on the asset. What looks like a not-fit-for-purpose building to officers would look like a huge opportunity to many voluntary groups. The service would have changed and I am sure that some users would have not liked the changes but a sensible way forward would have been found I am sure.  Labour cannot do anything imaginative with the third sector because it wants the capital receipt from selling the sites.  It has nothing to negotiate with. 

Phil Taylor ● 5585d

I think that you might find that it is more like £200,000 budgeted for the skateboard park project. For £200,000 you could REALLY provide some disabled day centre facilities that are fit for purpose.

Jeff Belsen ● 5587d