Dear Fellow Residents,

Since the financial crash of 2008 began to hit local government, we have been writing to you with increasingly bad news about the state of public service finances.

We have always tried to explain the background to council decisions and the ways in which we think we can work to mitigate the effects of some cuts, though sadly, mitigation is often no longer possible. We always advocate working together as much as possible to try and achieve the very best for all residents.

Our area has the greatest wealth/poverty divide in South Cambridgeshire. People who are better off may not personally feel the effects of cuts to public services – but that is changing: everyone now encounters roads and pavements in disrepair. This winter, we will notice a reduction in road gritting services and the late night switch-off of some street lights.

Whether you think further financial austerity is something you personally are willing to put up with, the fact is that it will have an increasingly detrimental impact on people around us. Eventually most people require health and social care services, and unless we can pay for our own personal care, we will be affected too.

We have seen a spike in demand for children’s acute mental health care, but demand cannot be met. Last year two children’s mental health services waiting lists were closed.

In addition to critical funding we know that our access to health and social care services absolutely depends on staff recruitment from around the EU.

New cuts this year include no more Sixth Form transport assistance, no more peak time bus pass travel for people who are blind, road verge grass cut only twice per year. Pavement repairs for Meldreth High Street have been cancelled.

Through case work, we know that people with profound disabilities are being asked to pay for their own transport out of limited benefits.

Some of the ‘Hidden Cuts’ that affect people who are disadvantaged in some way include reduced funds for: adults with mental health needs, Child Protection, Looked After Children, people on the autistic spectrum, people with learning disabilities, Early Help and Youth Services, speech and language therapy, older people requiring care, school improvement, Health Visitors and Family Nursing. Complete removal of community grants, opening hours at Cambridge Central Library reduced. Cambridgeshire County Council will make another £100 million in cuts in the coming five years, removing all services which it is not legally required to provide.

We believe that the financial instability triggered by an EU Leave vote would exacerbate these transformative cuts to local services. This is already in evidence, as you have perhaps already read – last week Britain’s biggest companies lost £100bn in four days as a result of merely the fear of Brexit.

There is clearly no golden future around the corner one way or the other, but preventing things from getting worse means working together to protect financial stability in all possible ways.

Therefore we urge you to vote to ‘Remain’ in the EU.

Best wishes,

Susan van de Ven
Philippa Hart
Jose Hales

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