mond2x: Are 12 local centres facing the axe amid city council cuts?

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Are 12 local centres facing the axe amid city council cuts?

FEARS are growing that 12 centres which bring council services to the community could be closed down.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has local centres in Tunstall, Chell Heath, Norton, Burslem, Hanley, Abbey Hulton, Bentilee, Stoke, Blurton, Fenton, Longton and Meir, which provide advice and information about the local authority's services.

But members of the city council's improving communities overview and scrutiny committee fear there could be secret plans to shut the centres, which will not be revealed until after full council agrees the 2011/12 budget on Thursday, February 24.

The fears emerged when the committee learnt it was not due to see a report called Future Of Local Centres until March 29.

Councillor Mick Salih, who represents Norton and Bradeley, said he feared once councillors had approved the budget, they would be tied in to going along with whatever the cabinet proposed for the local centres.

He said: "It is like shutting the gate after the horse has bolted as we are going to be restrained by the budget."

Committee members said details of plans for local centres should be made public before next year's budget is set in stone.

Mr Salih, who is part of the Community Voice group, said not letting the committee know the proposals in advance undermined the whole idea of scrutiny.

He said: "I sometimes wonder what the point is of doing spotlight reviews or doing any overview and scrutiny."

Councillor David Conway, chairman of the committee and City Independents member for Burslem North, said: "If we all put our hand up on Thursday, we won't know what we are putting our hand up for.

"I haven't a clue what we'll be voting for as I don't know what is in the report."

Officers at the council told the committee no final decisions about local centres were likely to be made until after the all-out elections in May.

Councillor Michael Coleman, BNP member for Weston and Meir North, pictured below left, said: "If they are trying to close local centres, we need to know before the elections so people can have their say.

"We need to find out immediately what the position of the council is on local centres."

The committee also expressed fears that the cabinet might make a decision on March 17 – 12 days before the improving overview and scrutiny next meets.

Mr Salih said: "If cabinet makes a decision, we only have seven days to call it in. It will be March 29 before we even get to see the report."

Officers agreed to schedule an earlier meeting on March 10 to allow the committee to see the report before the next cabinet meeting.

This is not the first time the future of the city's local centres, which allow residents to pay bills and council tenants to report problems with their homes, has been in doubt.

In June 2009, plans to cut the number of local centres to six one-stop shops around the city were revealed.

But a team of councillors from the improving communities overview and scrutiny committee assessed the performance and structure of the council's neighbourhood management department.

And then decided they would shelve the proposals after they sparked a storm of protest from residents, groups and councillors.