Funding for children's services slashed in Cumbria
Kat Baldwyn
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Children's services in Cumbria face multi-million-pound cuts as the council loses money from government grants.
Revenue and capital grants expected by the council this year have been slashed by £7.93m.
A £3.1m reduction in the area-based grant for children's services means there will have to be funding reductions in the way the council supports schools in areas such as under-attainment, attendance, healthy eating, extended services and travelling to school initiatives.
The county council is still waiting for a decision on whether there will be a £602,000 cut in the grant for the Playbuilder scheme, a £225,000 cut in the Aiming High for Disabled Children capital grants, and a £925,000 cut to the capital grant for children's centres.
The funding reductions in children's services also mean the council's contribution to the Connexions service is being reduced by £415,000 and there has been a £144,000 reduction in its Children's Fund.
In addition to the £7.93m grant reductions, there have been a number of funding decisions affecting Cumbria, including the cancellation of the Building Schools for the Future programme which would have brought £62m worth of investment into secondary education in West Cumbria.
Councillor Stewart Young, Cumbria County Council's deputy leader, said: "We are particularly concerned that we are still awaiting decisions from the government on a further £1.75m in grants for play areas, respite care facilities for disabled children and children's centres.
"These cuts are only the first instalment, of course, and we await the outcome of the comprehensive spending review, which will determine how much government funding we get next year, and how much we are allowed to raise through council tax.
"There is at present a lot of uncertainty about the exact impact on local government, but from the announcements which have been made, we think we may be looking at cuts of £30m to £40m. Continuing to protect services when faced with cuts of that magnitude would be extremely challenging."