The safety of children ‘will not be negatively impacted’ in the Alliance administration’s first budget since taking office,
With council budgets being stretched even more following the impact of COVID-19 and savings plans, questions have been raised about what the upcoming Isle of Wight Council budget will look like for children’s services.
Speaking at the council’s children’s services, education and skills committee last week, Councillor Tig Outlaw reflected on the legacy of the former cabinet member for the area, Cllr Paul Brading, who lost the position when the Conservatives failed to retain power.
Cllr Outlaw said, as a fellow Bay area councillor, he knew how hard Cllr Brading had worked in the sector and how hard he fought in the last budget to avoid cuts.
Approved in February, the savings outlined for this year in the children’s services budget, as part of a bigger financial strategy, was £481,000 — 1.9% of the service’s budget.
The new cabinet member for children’s services, education and skills, Councillor Debbie Andre, assured Cllr Outlaw she was confident, “the budget for my portfolio will not impact negatively on any safeguarding of our children”.
Cllr Andre said there were many facets to preparing a budget and was unable to go into detail at this stage.
In the last 5 years under Conservative leadership, the Isle of Wight Council agreed to cut more than £3.2 million. The money was part of a bigger project to save £28.5 million across the entire council.
In children’s services, the budget is between £24 and £25 million, with this current year’s controllable budget of £25,799,771 being the largest in 5 years.
Talks are underway within the council to deliver a budget for the Island, the Alliance administration’s first.
Speaking at previous council meetings, leader Councillor Lora Peacey-Wilcox said they want to move away from the ingrained approach of cuts and managing decline.
Stop handing out money, hand over fist, to the hand wringing do gooders and stop importing benefit claimants/asylum seekers with countless kids and parents with no jobs. Not our responsibility to pay out for other peoples kids.
make feckless parents pay up or do jail time, as they do in the states.
Well said Sir
It is called a civilized society for a reason.
Why don’t you stay in your cave you bitter and twisted little man.
There children will be paying for your pension !
The UK stopped being a civillised country a long time ago. Nation of yobs now. Japan is civilised where there is politeness and respect for their environment and they do not allow in hordes of refugees or back up lowlife no good scroungers who sponge off the state as their whole way of life because they grew up doing it and have never known any different.
No they wont jollop – those kids will, like all all the generations of those families since the inception of the benefits system, will be lifelong claimants, making up all sorts of excuses for not working and needing yet another handout.
stop being such a blind do gooder – your attitude is akin to the idiots in california and now look at the state of the place “see tenderloin district”- with homeless encampments on the pavements, drug taking in public and crime through the roof.
It’s not the money the council get as that is plenty full it’s the way it’s managed that needs looking into .
Everyone has to watch how they spend their money as we as working class people do and it’s getting harder and harder .
We just can’t say right we put up council tax , charge more at parking meters etc etc.