Unite makes stand in Coventry on £660,000 cuts to children
and youth services
5 February 2009
A mass rally is being held in Coventry on Saturday, 14 February
to prevent £660,000 of cuts to the children and youth services in
the city.
Unite, the largest union in the country, is calling on the
public to fight the plans of the Conservative-controlled Coventry
City Council, which could mean the closure of the remaining 14
after-school clubs and 23 summer play schemes, possibly affecting
6,000 primary school children.
The Unite march and rally will be at the Coventry Council House
in Earl Street at noon on 14 February.
Doug Nicholls, Unite National Secretary, Community and Youth
Workers Industrial Sector, said: ‘This will give the chance for the
people of Coventry to show their opposition to the cuts which will
hit some of the most vulnerable families and children in the
community.’
The cuts to the Children’s and Family Education Services,
totaling £300,000 for the current financial year 2007/08, are
coupled with the £360,000 being axed from the Youth Service over a
two-year period, (2007/09). The Youth Service gives support and
advice on sexual health, drug and alcohol misuse, community
cohesion and employment training.
Unite is angry that the cash-strapped council spent £64,000 on
management consultants, PWC, for a three-month review of the Youth
Service, which Doug Nicholls described as ‘a flagrant waste of
public money which could have been better spent on front line
projects for young people.’
Proposals to ‘outsource’ the work of children and youth services
to other organisations would lead to ‘a dumbing down’ of the
professionalism of youth and community workers; job cuts; and the
erosion of the pay and conditions of those staff that remain.
It is understood that 22.6 whole-time equivalent (WTE) jobs are
under threat, although, because many staff work part-time, this
will translate into many more employees losing their jobs.
Unite said that no research had been done by the council on how
it planned for local schools to take up the slack, if the
after-school clubs close.
Unite is calling on the council’s new Chief Executive, Martin
Reeve, who takes up his post on 1 April, to maintain front line
services for children and young people, and enter into ‘a
meaningful dialogue’ with the trade unions.
Doug Nicholls said: ‘Coventry is, unfortunately, leading the
country in this systematic attack on these vital services for
children and young people at a time of chronic recession, as well
as undermining the professionalism and qualifications of our
members.’
-ends-
NOTES TO NEWS EDITORS:
Pat Seaman, Vice Chair, Unite Community and Youth Workers
(Coventry) branch 07939 111 531; Doug Nicholls, National Secretary,
Community and Youth Workers Industrial Sector 07970 345 381;
Rachael Maskell, National Officer, Community and Non Profit Sector
0207 420 8979 or 07768 693933; Shaun Noble, Communications
Officer (Third Sector) 020 7420 8951 or 07768 693
940
Unite represents over 60,000 members in the Third Sector.
Unite press releases on the Non Profit Sector can be seen on
website: www.unitetheunion.org/nonprofit
Unite was formed by an amalgamation of Amicus and the Transport
and General Workers’ Union in May 2007.
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