Agenda item

At this point in the meeting, members of the public who have registered their wish to speak at the meeting can do so.  The deadline for registering is 5.00pm on Monday 31 January 2011.

Members of the public may register to speak on:-

• An item on the agenda
• An issue within the Executive Member’s remit
• An item that has been published on the Information Log since the last session.

A trade union representative from Unison spoke on item 4 on the agenda – “2011/12 Children & Young People’s Budget Proposals”.  He stated that Unison appreciated the difficult situation facing the council but was nevertheless very concerned that the proposed cuts were not incremental and could not be achieved without resulting in fewer services for children and young people in York.  He stated that those services which were non-statutory but which had proved to be very valuable, would be particularly hit.  He also raised concerns at the impact on the early intervention work that was taking place and which was cost-effective in the longer term.  He stated that he appreciated that every effort would be made to avoid redundancies but he believed that the outcome would be the loss of skilled staff, which would mean that it would not be possible to rebuild to provide the same level of service in the future.

The trade union representative raised issues in respect of specific proposals including:

• ACES 12 and 13 - attention was drawn to the written representation that had been submitted by Unison regarding these proposals.  Concerns were expressed that the cuts would impact on front-line delivery and that insufficient account had been taken of the possibility of income generation.  Attention was drawn to issues in respect of careers guidance services which were currently being debated in Parliament.  A request was made that ACES 12 and 13  be referred back for further work.
• ACES 49 – a request was made that the proposals be given further consideration.
• Strong objections were raised to the proposals in respect of early years provision, particularly children’s centres.  A request was made for more work on equality impact assessments to be carried out and that, in view of their impact on families and communities, more consultation take place.
• ACES 16, 43 and 99 – concerns were expressed regarding the lack of clarity as to the impact on staffing.
• ACES 10, 30 and 88 – concerns that had been raised at the previous meeting in respect of the Front Door proposals were reiterated.
• ACES 87 – concerns raised as to how the Family Intervention Service could continue to deliver the support that it was currently providing if staffing was to be reduced.
• ACES 33, 63 and 91 – concerns expressed regarding impact on staff and on users.
• Proposed cuts to staffing at Mill House – concerns that this would impact on frontline delivery.
• CANS 29 and 14 – concerns expressed that the importance of the arts was not being recognised. Unison would wish to be closely involved in mitigating the impact of the proposed cuts.

The trade union representative stated that Unison had grave concerns about all of the proposed cuts and would wish to be involved in the consultation.  They particularly requested that ACES 12 and 13 were referred back for further consideration and that ACES 14 was either referred back or a commitment given that there would be a longer period of consultation.

Councillor D’Agorne had submitted written representation to the Executive Member drawing her attention to an Early Day Motion on the Careers Service.   He expressed concern about the proposed cuts to the service and the impact that this would have on young people in the city.  He stated that the current proposals would result in a loss of skills and would make it difficult for the Authority to respond to arrangements that they may be required to put in place in the future.