Cuts to Services Across Cambridgeshire - Have Your Say!

On Thursday the County Council released some preliminary information of the spending cuts it is currently planning in response to the financial mess the Labour party left this Country in. The really surprising thing was that only on Tuesday, at Full Council, the Conservative Administration was refusing to release details of the cuts - turns out a lot can change in two days*.

A few days earlier the Conservative administration briefed County Councillors (including Liberal Democrats) regarding the scope of the cuts. Those attending this briefing were sworn to secrecy regarding the changes - we are *still* unable to discuss specific areas of the cuts that have not yet been "leaked" by the administration into the public domain.

The BBC News covered the story here (with an interview with John Reynolds the cabinet member responsible).

One of the interesting things about the review is that the County Council is asking residents across Cambridgeshire to prioritise the services the County offers (i.e. say which areas should be cut and which should not). 

The survey is available here. I'd urge as many local residents and residents groups as possible to complete this survey - the County Council will be using it to "justify" the areas they are planning to cut (for example one of the "options" on the Survey is to close 19 libraries across Cambridgeshire - almost certainly including some in the city - if you think this is a bad idea let them know!)

*- The slightly more cynical amongst you will probably be thinking that, given the tuition fees debate and vote taking place on that date, it was "a good day to bury bad news".