by County Councillor John Clare
Every month the Cabinet deals with hundreds of pages of reports. Wednesday 11th September’s meeting was no different.
Money Matters
Reports on the Medium Term Financial Plan and on the Budget Outturn recorded that the Council is on target to meet its projected cuts for this year. However, just before the summer holidays, figures released by the government revealed that the 10% cut for next year announced in the government’s Spending Review will actually be – for County Durham – 16.4%. The cuts for the north and the more deprived areas are much heavier than those for the wealthier, south-east councils, and representations are being made about this disparity. There has been some suggestion in the press that the County Council should use its earmarked reserves to prop up spending, but the report showed how they are just that – ‘earmarked’ – for other purposes (such as redundancy, housing benefit subsidy, etc.) and were not available for revenue spending.
Government Policies
The Cabinet also receives regular updates about changes to government policies. The pace and degree of change at the moment is unprecedented – and the new policies are not just chaotic, they are not working. If you want an idea of the kind of challenges facing the County Council, you can read the Welfare Reform Update online at bit.ly/DCCwelfare, and the Update on the Implications of Government Policy at bit.ly/DCCgovt
Issues not affecting Aycliffe
Three issues addressed by the Cabinet did not affect Aycliffe directly, but you may be interested:
• A consultation has been launched (at bit.ly/DCCpatrols) on removing lunchtime crossing patrols from 60 schools where they are no longer being used because the children now stay at school for their lunch. No Aycliffe schools are affected by this decision.
• Cabinet also decided (after consultation) to amalgamate Ouston Junior and Infant Schools (in the north of the County) into a single school; this is better educationally and is a way of securing schools which might otherwise, given the cuts, be under threat.
• ‘Digital Durham’ is a government-funded scheme to roll out broadband to the rural west of the county.
Other matters
New LED street lights are being put into place in a number of locations around the county, including in Aycliffe, and I have had some complaints and (admittedly fewer) positive comments. The Street Lighting consultation does not end until 26 September and I would urge anybody with comments to make them via bit.ly/DCClights
Finally, the County’s programme of guided walks for October-March is now available via bit.ly/DCCwalks – and don’t forget that the opening hours of Heighington Lane waste recycling centre will be changing from 1 October … to 9am to 3:30pm, seven days a week.
