Is Steve Foulkes listening?

Last night I was invited by 7 Waves Community Radio to go on Oliver Adam’s political programme to comment about the Council’s proposed cuts to leisure services across Wirral. 

There was talk in the papers yesterday of a possible u-turn for Guinea Gap.  If these rumours are true then my first reaction is one of tremendous relief for the people who use Guinea Gap, but how long would the reprieve be for?  Steve Foulkes has said throughout this consultation that he will listen to the people of Wirral.  If he has listened, then he will know that these cuts are not an option for the people of Wallasey.  But he’s also consistently argued that these cuts are necessary to avoid Council Tax rises and that closing Guinea Gap is the only option.

Now, unless the whole package of cuts is scrapped, and I hope it is, we are going to see the Council picking and choosing which should stay and which should go.  I don’t see how that decision can be made in a considered and careful way in the time we have left.  This u-turn, if it’s true, really will be the ‘back of the fag packet’ stuff.  It will also mean that you have community fighting community to hang on to their library or leisure centre.

After 7 Waves, I went to the public meeting in Birkenhead organised by WTUC with Cllrs Chris Blakeley, Sue Taylor and James Keeley, to discuss not only the cuts to Wirral’s leisure services but also cuts to Social Services because of proposals to ‘out source’ services and cuts to lollipop ladies to save the Council £50,000.