Last night, councillors from five London boroughs voted in major cuts to council spending over the next three years. Newham, Camden and Brent, £100 million each. Croydon, £90 million. Bromley, £33 million. It doesn't make pleasant reading. Here's a roundup.
Newham
The Labour-led council agreed to slash £100 million over three years, with £47.9m saved from a total budget of £291.5m (16.4% of budget) over the next financial year. The savings will be made from back-office costs, reducing the number of senior managers, buildings costs and cuts to some care services. It is estimated that 200 public sector jobs will go.
Camden
Labour-led Camden were also voting on a £100 million budget reduction, although this may drop to £80 million. Cuts hitting children's services and elderly care were particularly thorny issue. An estimated 500 people turned out in protest, blocking Euston Road outside the town hall. The ever-excellent Fitzrovia News has a report and videos, while Camden New Journal reporter Richard Osley provided live Twitter updates from within the meeting.
Brent
A third Labour-led council struggling with the big £100 million, will partly cut the costs by shedding 400 jobs on top of 350 already announced. Lobbyists demonstrated outside, but were unable to get into the meeting. The council agreed to reduce spending by £41.7m over the next year.
Croydon
Seeking to reduce costs by £90 million over three years, the southern borough will slash £22.7 million from this year's budget of £273.8 million (8.3%). As well as the ubiquitous 'back-office' cuts, the council will sand down youth services and arts funds. Inside Croydon has a report.
Bromley
The Conservative-led council voted on 150 cuts that will reduce spending by £33 million over three years. Newsshopper has a detailed breakdown of the allocations, which include reducing funding for sheltered housing and homecare provision.
The frugal five join ten previous councils to approve spending cuts. We've mapped out how the cuts affect each borough.
For those who wish to protest against the cuts, the huge 'March For The Alternative' demonstration will take place in London on 26 March.
Let us know of any photos or reports from the five council meetings and we'll add links to this post.
Image by Gaz-zee-boh in the Londonist Flickr pool.
