Southwark council confirms four per cent council tax rise and cuts to social care

By Grainne Cuffe, Local Democracy Reporter

A town hall has approved 3.99 per cent hike in council tax and included £2.4 million in cuts to adult social care – £1.4 of which was a cut to care packages in the borough.

Southwark council’s 2020/21 budget was approved on Wednesday, and included an extra £1.5 million for children’s mental health services.

Cuts of nearly £7 million were approved, including the closure the Aylesbury Day Nursery, which will save the council £150,000.

According to council documents: “This decision reflects the current stage of the regeneration of the Aylesbury and the reduced need for nursery places at this time.

“The majority of families using the nursery will have children of school age by September 2020 and the closure will be timed to coincide with this.”

The council plans to cut more than £160,000 from two advice services – £33,000 from Southwark Law Centre and £130,000 from the Citizens Advice Bureau.

Presenting the report, Councillor Victoria Mills, cabinet member for finance, performance and Brexit, blamed a “decade of Tory austerity” for the cuts.

Cllr Mills said Southwark “can’t have any more sticking plasters” for social care, adding that more Government funding was needed for education, specifically SEN services.

The council dedicated an extra £1.5 million for children’s preventative mental health services, as well as £2million for tackling the climate emergency.

Cllr Mills said: “There is over £1 million for a sure start approach for teenagers.

“We are at last able to work together to bring together the many agencies that can and should support our teenagers and parents at times of crisis.

“There is an amazing £1.5 million extra for preventative mental health services for children and young people – that builds on the £2million investment we made last year.”

Extra funds were put aside for drug and alcohol services, as well as a full roll-out of nursery school meals.

Cllr Mills added: “The Tory Government has spent the last five years being cruel but also being chaotic and it needs to start planning for the next five years.”

The Liberal Democrats tabled three amendments, including action on the climate emergency, reversing the cuts to advice services, and being “more innovative” around income generation, all of which were rejected.

Liberal Democrat councillor Jane Salmon said cutting advice services was “inexcusable and somewhat shameful”.

She said: “We have to propose an amendment that reverses your cuts to vital legal support services, to them and some of our most vulnerable citizens.

“We just don’t understand how you can rationally justify this decision to cut the funding to Southwark Law and Citizens Advice Southwark.

“Any such cuts to these vital free services can only impact residents who find themselves in desperate need of expert advice.

“You should never cut funding to these hugely important bodies,” she said.

She said increasing council tax and raising fees was “not sustainable”.

Top: Southwark council’s offices in Tooley Street