Revealed: The cuts to Kent Youth Service

ed: On February 23rd, Maidstone Coalition of Resistance obtained slides detailing probable cuts to the Kent Youth Service. We told you that we would be seeking the documentation early through a Freedom of Information request, but we were rebuked by the council. The documentation has now arrived, Daniel Frost reports:

The cabinet papers for the KCC meeting on the 18^th July have now been released, and amongst them are the documents concerning reforms and cuts to the Kent Youth Service (KYS).

KYS is expected to suffer a cut of around £1million to its budget, despite the fact that over the past two years it has successfully made savings of over £800k. Kent Youth Service provides support and activities for young people aged between 13 and 19, with some additional services provided for those in the wider 11-25 age bracket.

The most striking part of the KCC’s plan entails the decision to “cease direct delivery” in 24 youth clubs and street-based projects. Presently, KYS operated in 90 different locations, with three youth centres in the Borough of Maidstone alone (InfoZone, Shepway and Lenham).

The KCC’s vision for the youth service in Kent is of a district hub centre located in each borough/district, of which there are 12 in Kent. There will then, in addition to this, be one street based project and one or more school-based youth workers.

In the Borough of Maidstone, the youth centre which is planned to remain open is InfoZone- the centre which is most central to the town. Shepway, one of the more deprived areas of Maidstone with a high concentration of young people, will therefore be left without a youth centre.

Worse still, the closure of the youth centre in Lenham will mean there is no provision of services in the south or east of the borough- as well as Lenham, this includes areas such as Headcorn and Staplehurst, who presently do not have youth centres but can at least benefit from the one in Lenham.

(Pictures courtesy of the KCC- here and here)

The Borough of Maidstone has 12,400 young people aged between 13 and 19, which is the joint second highest in the county. Further to this, there are 13,300 young people who fit into the additional 11-25 age bracket.

It would be absolutely bizarre to believe that such a large borough could get by with just one youth centre, and with services (including the community youth tutor) concentrated in the town to the exclusion of the surrounding villages.

It’s also worth bearing in mind the damage this will do to the county through job losses, as well as the hurt that will do to hard-working people’s lives. Across Kent, the closure of 27 different projects will result in redundancies for 25 full time staff, 5.5 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) cleaning staff and 29 FTE part-time youth workers.

 

I struggle to see how anyone could support these plans, which put the life chances of vulnerable young people at risk and will result in the further loss of things for young people to do- the sort of things that mean they aren’t forced to hang about on street corners, which typically causes a significant amount of complaints from the local community.

These cuts are unnecessary and unfair, and will rightly be opposed by the Maidstone Coalition of Resistance.

A full Equality Impact Assessment is due, and a consultation period will take place between 1^st August and 29^th October, with implementation of the plans intended for February/March 2012. That leaves us with plenty of time to make our voices heard, and MCoR will be taking part in a demonstration in September.

Daniel Frost – original post can be found at his blog here 

 

University withdrawal could be damaging for Maidstone

Why the proposed sale of the University for the Creative Arts’ (UCA) Maidstone campus to MidKent College could be a bad deal for Maidstone.

Its clear to me as a graduating student that the proposals – which not only spell out the end of UCA’s presence in Maidstone but will result in a chunk of it disappearing in ‘rental’ to MidKent College as early as September 2011 – represent a bad deal for new and continuing students.

Ask any student (past and present) at UCA Maidstone how they feel about the possible deal with MidKent College and at best you will find trepidation, often you will experience their anger. From how the situation has been handled internally to fears about facilities, resources and staffing, students are unhappy.

Students left signs facing the office of Helen Grant MP during the 24th November 2010 student protest. With thanks to Sam Whetton

However, what is less clear is how the plan for the eventual sale of the campus entire will not only affects our students but also affects Maidstone as a whole.

The Kent Messenger seemed to praise the deal in its 3rd June coverage while affording a jab at the concept of ‘more student flats’ being built in the area, but there is far more to hosting a population of students than noisy parties.

Maidstone has played host to the Maidstone College of Art since 1867, which eventually became the Kent Institute for Art and Design. Its Oakwood Park campus was opened in 1970 and following a merger of Kent and Surrey art colleges in 2005 it gained accreditation to become the University for the Creative Arts in 2008.

The campus here has a long history, and has provided much for Maidstone to be proud of. Not many towns can boast a world-class art and design institution, part of one of the largest art and design institutions in Europe, sitting right near their heart! Having a university like UCA in Maidstone bestows a unique cultural bonus and speaks of a town keen to nurture and nourish arts and culture.

Not only does our campus represent a cultural bonus for Maidstone but also provides great benefits for the local economy. 700+ students study at the Maidstone campus. These students come from all over the United Kingdom – and indeed the world – to live and study here, and treat Maidstone as their adopted home.

If UCA pull out of their Maidstone campus, the town will lose out. MidKent College wants to step into a market-niche left in Higher Education by soaring fees, but it is not a university and it does not intend to target students prepared to travel and live away from home.

MidKent College’s Vice-Principal Jane Jones stated that MidKent see their market as “people in employment or who already have accommodation in Kent” and admitted that even then, in-part thanks to the fees situation, growth at the campus “will be slow”.

Student populations contribute to a micro-economy made up of local clubs, bars and pubs, shops and general trade and landlords; all needed for Maidstone contribute to recovery from the recent recession. Students spend money, and are part of the local economy. I spoke to a local landlord who pointed out that lack of focus on economic impacts had “missed the point”.

UCA do claim to be planning for a joint, all-Kent campus to be built by 2017 but admit that they have not identified a site and that they are still looking. This plan was announced in 2008, but following a backlash by students and staff coupled with the recession, the plans seemed to be withdrawn. How can this plan be achievable in the current economic climate of the Higher Education sector, and with UCA as the fourth worst hit university by government cuts?

Though the university claims the plans have been active since 2008, it feels to me that the have been conveniently resurrected to cover for the easy amputation of a campus in response to cuts. What our campus really requires is better management and greater effort to attract students.

These issues are not just issues for students and lecturers at UCA Maidstone, and the deal is by no means done. The Board of Governors at UCA can reject the bid, and the proposals, at their meeting on the 14^th July.

These concerns are something that should be raised by people living in Maidstone, and I’d urge people to write to their local councillors.

Luke Frost
UCA Students’ Union Campus Officer-Elect for Maidstone, in a personal capacity.

Cuts to Maidstone Library services

We have received a response to our inquiries as to how national and local budget cuts will impact upon Maidstone’s library services. The situation does not look good.

Allington, Madginford and Coxheath libraries will be having self-service technology installed. Whilst this has been dressed up in the guise of improvements for ‘customers’, it would appear upon further inspection that it is merely an excuse for job losses. In libraries where self-service technology is installed, it is standard practice for a 32% reduction in front-of-house staff to be applied.

Across the entirety of Kent, 83 full-time equivalent posts will be removed from the current structure. Whilst many of these are already vacant, there will also be a push for people to retire or take voluntary redundancies. Understandably, they wish to avoid compulsory redundancies; however the alternative is not much better.

Of course, the library service is making the best of a bad situation and should not be blamed. What is important is that we show how important Maidstone’s libraries and librarians are to the people of Maidstone.

You can find our request for information and the reply here.

March 26th – March for the Alternative

The March 26th ‘March for the Alternative’ is going to be huge. Maidstone Coalition of Resistance is helping to co-ordinate with unions so that people can get to the march and back again and get their voices heard. Members have already been handing out flyers and we’ll be handing out more this week.

The march will bring together those who deliver public services under threat together with those who use them, those whose private sector jobs are threatened by the depressed economy and those who are simply angry at the damage that the cuts are doing to our society.

The march gives everyone involved in opposing cuts the opportunity to come together in a single national moment to share their rejection of the government’s argument that there is no alternative.

Here’s a list of known coaches in Maidstone to the March 26th ‘March for the Alternative‘. You can find coaches using the map here.

UNISON – Free, Open to non-members (?)

Departs at: 8:30am
Departs from: County Hall, Maidstone ME14 1XQ
Please ask interested parties to email of phone on 01622 694052.  We need a mobile number and email address.
Email: unison@kent.gov.uk
Telephone: 01622 695042
Organised by: Branch Secretary

NASUWT - Free, Open to non-members

Departs at: 9:00am
Departs from: Maidstone East Train Station, off Week Street, Maidstone ME14 1QN

NASUWT are providing free coaches to all members and their friends and family. Individuals, other trade unions and campaign groups are also welcome. Please contact Cathy Norman at cathy.norman@mail.nasuwt.org.uk or 01483 226130 for more details and to discuss.

UNITE - Free, open to non-members

DEPARTS AT: 8:45-9AM
DEPARTS FROM: Sittingborne Road, opposite the Queen Anne pub

If people would like spaces they can email Eamonn Walsh. Unite the Union, Workers Rep. eamonn38@btinternet.com or phone 07761274364.

Cuts to Kent Youth Service

Maidstone CoR have obtained slides that confirm there will be a £500k ‘reduction in base budget’ for KYS (Kent Youth Service) in 2010/11, and that their ‘Next Medium Term Plan’ requires a further £1 million in savings from KYS (Kent Youth Service).

The presentation titled ‘Youth Services in Kent: Proposals for Future Delivery Models’  mentions ’12 hubs, one per district’. At present there are 33 buildings used by Kent Youth Service across the county, attached to these buildings are up to 43 different projects.

"Now we can talk.."

The proposed plan could mean anything up to two thirds of these projects, their staff teams and resources being done away with. The slides state “Now we can talk …” but we don’t see the council announcing this. With that in mind the Maidstone Coalition of Resistance have lodged a Freedom of Information Act request to try and find out more.  You can find the request here.

The young people who currently attend or engage with these projects could be left with no local provision in their area, this will impact upon thousands of young people, their families and communities.

You can find all the slides here.

NHS job losses in Kent

Our friends at False Economy sent out hundreds of FOIA requests to NHS trusts across the country, asking how many jobs would be lost to cuts. The results are in. 50,000 nationally with nearly 1000 in Kent alone.

David Cameron promised not to cut the NHS during his election campaign. We know now, with £20bn of ‘savings’ looming, this isn’t true. These job losses are only the beginning, and only a portion of the onslaught to come for the NHS as managerial power is handed over to GP consortia, unequipped to deal with the task at hand. There are many other problems with the governments stance on the NHS, more of which you can read about here.

Cameron - "I'll cut the deficit, not the NHS"

It looks like Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust “is not anticipating any significant reduction in staff numbers” but the rest of Kent can expect significant job losses. I’ve collected and posted the information about Kent NHS trusts from the list here, in full.

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust

ACUTE

The Trust is recruiting to a number of critical clinical vacancies. The commissioning of the new hospital provides opportunities for efficiencies and at this stage the Trust is not anticipating any significant reduction in staff numbers. However, as new working practices are bedded in the Trust will reduce its reliance of agency and temporary staff and achieve significant reductions in pay costs. A review of support functions will be undertaken in 2011/12.

Total Posts Cut: 0

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust

ACUTE

(Monitor Forward Plan): 305 net headcount reduction planned over three years from 2010-13. 2010/11 – (163); 2011/12 – 147; 2012/13 – 321. 2010/11: Net growth is after a reduction of 134 staff as a result of efficiency projects and 69 staff no longer consolidated into the Trust’s pay costs. Increases of 15, 176 and 162 staff are expected as a result of service improvements, activity growth and funded service developments respectively. 2011/12: A net reduction of 147 staff is expected. The efficiency programme should drive a reduction in 272 posts, but redeployment of up to 79 staff to meet activity demands/service developments and 47 staff redeployed to improve patient and service quality. 2012/13: A net reduction of 321 staff is expected during the year. The efficiency programme should deliver staff reductions of 377 funded posts and redeployment of 27 staff to meet activity demands and 29 staff to deliver patient quality improvements and service delivery. (Feb 2011 FOI): No official plans to cut posts. The 2011-14 workforce strategy will form part of the Trust’s Annual Plan submitted to Monitor.

TOTAL POSTS CUT: 305

West Kent PCT

No decisions have been made as yet. No planned job cuts in 2010/11

Medway PCT

No decisions have been taken; a review is underway

Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT

100 WTE (3.16% of total establishment; 48% of management cost posts) non-clinical post reduction expected in order to meet management cost savings target. Figure may be reduced through natural wastage.

TOTAL POSTS CUT: 100

Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust

MENT

560.6 WTE (approx 15.8%) post reduction from 2010-15, to be met entirely through natural wastage. Consultant – 1.9 (1%); Junior medical costs – 17.6 (16%); Nursing, midwifery & health visitors – 264.7 (15%); Scientific, therapeutic & technical – 0.5; Non-clinical – 275.9 (32%). The total figure from 2010-15 includes 52 WTE in savings through sickness absence, e-rostering and NHS Professionals savings. 2010-15 includes 52 WTE in savings through sickness absence, e-rostering and NHS Professionals savings.

TOTAL POSTS CUT: 560.6

The blog and its goals

Welcome to the Maidstone Coalition of Resistance blog to collect, disseminate, discuss and analyse information and data pertaining to the cuts in our local services, and privatisation. The original idea was to hold a scrap book at meetings, and for members to bring clippings and information they’d like to collect to aid us.

This blog will work in the same way, and it is up to all of us to help find the information needed to uncover the extent of the disastrous campaign of cuts. The aim is to be the best go-to source for information about cuts and privatisation in Maidstone borough and even other parts of Kent.

Not only will we be posting as much information as we can but we will use this blog to host minutes of meetings and other information regarding to our struggle against the cuts.

The next few posts will contain the Constitution of our group, the minutes from our second meeting, information from False Economy FOIA requests about job losses in the NHS, and the impact of cuts on our local Youth Services that will be subject to our own FOIA request.

If you have information, data, testimonial or articles, send them to MaidstoneAntiCuts@gmail.com

Strict anonymity will be provided for all contributors, this is opt-out!