Local services have faced relentless cuts for the past 16 years as government funding shrank by 30 per cent. Now, Lambeth faces a further 93million black hole in its finances, as demand for services such as housing homeless families has gone up dramatically without funding to match.
The council will work with local community groups, trade unions, service users and grassroots campaigns to build a campaigning alliance, opening the Town Hall as a space to organise.
The move follows yesterday’s national anti-austerity summit held in Hackney, which saw hundreds of councillors, trade unionists and campaigners set out a series of demands and a programme of action.
Local people are being invited to have their say and outline the impact of the cuts on their lives in a survey and join the campaign at a public launch meeting on October 15. For full information visit haveyoursay.lambeth.gov.uk.
Cllr Michael Chessum, Lambeth Council’s Cabinet Member for Economy, Cost of Living and Empowered Communities, said: “Services Worth Fighting For is about fighting together to defend our local services, and being honest about our financial situation.
“Today, Lambeth Council is doing something different – bringing together an alliance of service users, workers and grassroots groups. We are standing with residents against the cuts, and saying with one voice that it is time to invest in our communities.
“Austerity is a political choice, and it has been wrecking vital local services for the past 16 years. The new Prime Minister says he will be different. For that to be meaningful, he needs to act quickly to give Councils like ours the resources they need.”
Cllr Zvikomborero Chihoro, Lambeth Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance and Community Wealth Building, said: “This is an incredibly serious situation. The funding cuts being imposed will harm our communities. Decisions made in Westminster are putting valuable local services in crisis and we are not willing to accept that.
“We are also going to be creative and pro-active to protect front-line service – rooting out genuine waste, taking services in house, opening the books, and investing to save.
“Lambeth Council provides hundreds of services, from caring for older people and looking after children with special needs, to running dozens of parks, libraries and children’s centres.
“Many of our services are unseen, supporting the most vulnerable in our communities, creating social networks and tackling equality. We believe these are service worth fighting for and are proud to deliver them.”
