Lib Dems will fight Conservative plans to cut Oxfordshire County Council services

10.39.00am GMT Sun 13th Dec 2009

Zoe Patrick, councillor for Grove and Wantage and Leader of the opposition on Oxfordshire county council

The details of Oxfordshire County Council's plans to cut over £106 million from its budget are very alarming. The opposition Leader on the county council, Grove and Wantage's councillor Zoe Patrick, said: "Liberal Democrats at County Hall will be checking these plans very carefully as they come before scrutiny committees, to ensure that the front line services that people depend on are not first in line for cuts."

Cllr Patrick explained: "We have called for backroom functions and the council's slick marketing machine to be scaled back - it is appalling that elderly people are faced with losing day care services, for example, when the County wastes money on needlessly glossy publications, on spin and on box ticking. No-one will die if one piece of paper is not moved from one desk to another in the policy unit, but if a care worker doesn't show up to an older person needing care at home, then it could be life or death. The Local Government Association is calling for a reduction in red-tape and bureaucracy, and we say that this should be the area where we need to look first at what is being delivered at the taxpayers' expense.

"The latest shock is the recent announcement on funding to the youth service as reported in Friday's Oxford Mail headed 'Madness'. As local councillor for Grove and Wantage, I am seeing at first hand, the huge impact this reduction in service will have on the community I represent. Indeed, I facilitated the young people's speaking at the Children's Scrutiny committee last Tuesday to present their case. Young people are our future and the excellent work our youth workers do in ensuring that some of our most vulnerable and disadvantaged youngsters get the help they need. The knock-on effects in health, policing and local families cannot be easily measured except potentially in any noticeable reduction in future crime statistics and less call on our heath services, for example.

"What is particularly astounding about these announcements is that they come so suddenly, apparently out of the blue. Before the election in June, there seemed no need to plan for cuts. However, the national economy was in a dire state before June and nothing significant has changed since. Was the bad news delayed until after the County election? Or have the administration had bad news from their colleagues at Westminster? They do not seem hopeful about a possible Cameron government being any better than Labour. It may even appear that there is worse to come."