Cuts Watch: Families

Cuts Watch: Families
Save our Sure Start services

10th February 2011 — Filed under: Cuts Watch: Families, Public services, Society & Welfare

Scarlet Harris

You may have missed the news from the Daycare Trust that 250 Sure Start children’s centres face closure – after the seemingly relentless tirade of bad news stories about cuts to services, from libraries to the Citizen Advice Bureau, from after school clubs to women’s refuges, yet another cuts story rarely grabs headlines.

It seemed too good to be true when the Coalition Government promised that Sure Start services would be protected in cash terms. It was. We already knew “cash terms” meant a 9% cut in real terms. We also knew that the ringfencing of Sure Start budgets was to end. In a context of Local Authorities facing budget cuts of 28%, it didn’t take a great leap of the imagination to envisage Sure Start budgets being raided as soon as the ringfencing was removed.

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Cuts Watch
Cuts Watch #377: Domestic violence services

8th February 2011 — Filed under: Cuts Watch: Families

Richard Exell

A survey by Women’s Aid for Channel 4 News has found that more than half the domestic violence services funded by local authorities do not know whether their funding will be cut this year or by how much. The survey found that some services – Channel 4 lists Devon, Hull, North Somerset and Nottinghamshire – have been told they may not get any funding at all. Thirty seven per cent say they face at least a “serious risk” of closure. Women’s Aid have set up a Facebook group, Saving Survivors’ Services and Nicola Harwin, their Chief Executive said:

The scary thing is, if domestic violence services are cut, there will be more risk of homicides. Two women are killed a week.

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Cuts Watch #370: Refugee advice services

5th February 2011 — Filed under: Cuts Watch: Families

Richard Exell

The UK Border Agency will cut advice services for refugees and asylum seekers by more than 60 per cent from April. Charities such as the Refugee Council will lose substantial direct funding and the UKBA’s Refugee Integration and Employment Services (help with housing and employment, provided via the charities) will be scrapped. Donna Covey, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said that “cuts this deep will not only devastate the organisations that provide asylum seekers with a lifeline, but will a have a serious and lasting impact on the wider voluntary and public sector.”

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Cuts Watch #344: Further cuts in children’s services

18th January 2011 — Filed under: Cuts Watch: Families

Anjum Klair

We have previously reported on how cuts are impacting on children and young people, as local councils respond to significant cuts in their funding. Further information from councils is now coming forward as they settle their financial budgets for 2011/12, which show us that these cuts are impacting on front line services and on the most vulnerable.

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Cuts Watch #331: Childcare in Camden

16th December 2010 — Filed under: Cuts Watch: Families

Richard Exell

Camden Council faces a budget shortfall that could reach the almost unimaginable sum of £100 million over the next 3 years. The government has told local authorities to “do more with less”, but Camden has already planned all the efficiency savings they can come up with. These include merging services with next door authorities, extra charges for some services and reducing the frequency of others. But this only saves £30 million.

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Cuts watch # 288:Consumer champ axed

14th October 2010 — Filed under: Cuts Watch: Environment, Cuts Watch: Families, Cuts Watch: Welfare

Philip Pearson

Despite the Coalition’s promise to “protect consumers, particularly the most vulnerable,” they will abolish Consumer Focus, our fuel poverty champion, saving £5m. Today’s fuel poverty figures from DECC show that 4m households in England can’t keep their homes warm. It’s worth remembering that Consumer Focus has achieved big wins for consumers –such as a £70 million energy bill refund, and cash ISA reforms saving over £15 million a year. CF has saved consumers around £500 million over the last two years – 100 times its government funding!

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Cuts Watch #283: Cold Weather Payments?

13th October 2010 — Filed under: Cuts Watch: Families, Cuts Watch: Welfare

Nicola Smith

During PMQs, the Prime Minister has today failed to provide an assurance that Cold Weather Payments will be retained at the rate of £25 a week (their value for the last two years). Direct Gov is still reporting that the £25 a week rate will be paid this winter. Should this rate be reduced, those entitled (broadly speaking, only the poorest households in the UK) will have less than a month to plan for the amendment.

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Cuts Watch #282: Disabled children’s Child Trust Funds

13th October 2010 — Filed under: Cuts Watch: Families

Nicola Smith

In May this year we reported on the Coalition”s decision to cut the Child Trust Fund. But the press release that accompanied the cut of this particular universal family benefit suggested that at least disabled children had been protected, stating that:

Payments to disabled children due this year will be made, and the Government will ensure that the funding allocated for these payments in future years will be redirected to other forms of support for disabled children.

It now appears that while payments ‘will be made’ they will be paid at a level that is close to half of what would have been made available before the policy was changed.

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Cuts Watch #278: Benefits for disabled people

11th October 2010 — Filed under: Cuts Watch: Families, Cuts Watch: Social care, Cuts Watch: Welfare

Nicola Smith

New research undertaken by Demos, and funded by Scope and the Barrow Cadbury Trust, has found that the Government’s proposed welfare reforms will see 3.5 million disabled people lose over £9.2 billion of support by 2015 pushing them further into poverty and increasing social exclusion.

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Cuts Watch #277: Free travel for children in Plymouth

11th October 2010 — Filed under: Cuts Watch: Education, Cuts Watch: Families, Cuts Watch: Transport

Nicola Smith

The county council in Plymouth is proposing to cut concessionary travel for children and young people in response to central Government grant reductions.

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