Bromley's public sector workers strike back

A section of this week's letters column in the Bromley Times, December 15, 2011

Socialist organisation Workers' Liberty  have produced a series of industrial bulletins here

Where next after N30?

Although recorded it seems during J30 this video featuring Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) speaker Janice Godrich in St George's Square, Glasgow continues to be relevant.

 

More up-to-date this week's Bromley News Shopper, December 7, features November 30 picture story 'Unions won't rule out more industrial action' (link to NS online which will require page scroll to feature on p22).

Last week's Bromley Times, December 1, came out too early for full N30 story but it did publish Kate Nelson's report 'Striking town hall workers threaten further walkouts in pensions dispute'.

Socialist organisation Alliance for Workers' Liberty (AWL) have produced a series of industrial bulletins. Post-linked here is Workers' Liberty Industrial Bulletin PDF Public Disorder (Pensions Special written by and for local government workers).

"...all we are saying..."

Ann Garrett, founder/supporter of Bromley Cuts Concern (Bromley Against the Cuts) has Letter of the Week in The Bromley Times in her capacity as Secretary of Bromley and Beckenham CND.

Bromley Times, 24/11/11

Strong Protests

This week's Bromley News Shopper, November 16, features another published letter 'Public meetings a PR sham' from Beckenham resident Rod Reed. Here is link to local newspaper Letters page.

Strong protests will be evident on November 30th's (N30) day of industrial action. Socialist organisation Alliance for Workers' Liberty (AWL) have produced a series of industrial bulletins. Post-linked here is Workers' Liberty Industrial Bulletin PDF Pensions Fightback.

Germ's Eye View

from Letters Bromley Times, October 27 2011

In the run-up to the day of industrial action on 30 November mentioned in the clip, socialist organisation Alliance for Workers' Liberty (AWL) have produced a series of industrial bulletins. Post-linked here is Workers' Liberty Industrial Bulletin PDF Germ's Eye View for NHS workers.

Save our Railways

Bromley Cuts Concern (Bromley Against the Cuts) is supporting a rally and lobby of Parliament on Tuesday, October 25 2011. More details here.

Arthur Shaw writes in his personal capacity as Bromley Cuts Concern supporter -

I will be attending a lobby of Parliament against the McNulty report with the Eurostar Branch of the RMT, if anybody wants to come along they're more than welcome, we are meeting at the Methodist Central Hall Westminster around 12.00 look out for the Eurostar RMT banner.

Subsidising Bromley's expansion at residents' expense

Letters published in local media are often forgotten the week after they appear. This letter by Rod Reed deserves perhaps a more permanent post on Bromley Cuts Concern (Bromley Against the Cuts) blog.

The Bromley Times, September 29 2011

Bromley Kids - What Future

Tuesday, 6th September, 7:00pm - children & youth services under threat of cuts and closure. Bromley Cuts Concern is supporting a lobby against a vote for cuts at Tuesday's council meeting - Civic Centre, Stockwell Close, Bromley, meet 6:30pm.

In his capacity as Bromley Cuts Concern (Bromley Against the Cuts) supporter, Paul Summers writes

What will the future hold for the children of Bromley, are they being failed by the council and national government, the prospects don't look good. Sure Start family centres have lots of ways to help children and families through early years. Bromley council's proposed closures of these centres led to questions in parliament.

Libraries are vital for children whose families don't have books, a computer or a quiet room for homework. Half the library staff face redundancy and opening hours could be reduced. The council has backed down a little in the face of community resistance.

Youth clubs keep teenagers occupied, helping them to learn to socialise and cooperate through sport and film projects etc. When two youth clubs closed in St Mary Cray Harold Barker chair of safer neighbourhood panel said Mountfield Estate "is now out of control " Councillor Stephen Carr had to admit " We don't always get it right" (Newsshopper 4 May 2011) but the youth clubs remain closed. Education Maintainance Allowance was a good thing because attendance at class was conditional to payment. Some teenagers will not be able to do A levels now. Connexions was good at helping with CVs and getting people through their interviews and into their first job. All south London boroughs have closed Connexions Centres.

University fees have tripled to £9,000 a year. In today's terms we have a quarter of the debt we had post World War Two so why the cuts? Maybe that's the subject for another article. What kind of society do we want? It is false economy to cut these services because of the damage it will cause.Any short term savings (and in fact more) will need to be spent on probation, policing, fire service,insurance premiums, hospitals, court costs and prisons. 

Paul Summers
bromleycuts@gmail.com


 

          The Bromley Times 8/9/11

 
The Bromley Times, 15/9/11 

Kate Nelson @ Bromley Times reports on Bromley children's centres here 

Bromley and the London Riots

The Bromley Times, 11 August 2011

Posted below is copied email from Amanda Evans of the Darwin Safer Neighbourhood Panel, made publically available Tuesday, August 9th, containing a message from Bromley's Borough Commander Charles Griggs to Judith Cross, chair of the Bromley Community Engagement Forum (BCEF).  They have requested that it should be circulated as widely as possible.

Monday night proved extremely challenging. With minimal resources intelligence suggested that the Town Centre, the Glades and the police station were going to be attacked. At about 2130 a large group descended on Market Square and began attacking shops. A rapid police response dispersed them. They re-grouped and attacked police, throwing stones and other items. A small number of Bromley officers in full public order gear, supported by the night duty team on foot, were able to hold the Town Centre, and protect life and property. However, they were unable to prevent some looting and damage in East Street and in The Mall. There followed sporadic attacks on police with rioters breaking up paving slabs and plant pots to use as missiles. Other key retail locations across the borough were attacked throughout the night with looting occurring at The Nugent Centre, Comet, and Currys in Cray Avenue; Currys and PC World in Homesdale Road, several shops in Beckenham High Street and Biggin Hill. We have 29 prisoners in custody, 19 of which are for burglary and other offences of disorder in Bromley, and a further 10 prisoners from other boroughs.
I was personally appalled and disgusted by the level of violence and sheer lawlessness that I saw on our streets over night. Officers have shown bravery and courage protecting our borough from these mindless thieving thugs; I am ashamed to think that they see their actions as justified. Whilst we have been unable to protect everywhere on the borough, we will not give up the streets. We will work tirelessly with our partners and the community to maintain order, and try and prevent a repeat of last nights awful scenes.
Many officers have already worked very long hours, and they will continue to do so. Every police officer and PCSO have had their rest days cancelled, and we have introduced 12 hour shifts to maximise our resources. Whilst I am providing significant aid to Tottenham and other high risk boroughs, I have a lot of resources available in Bromley. We will ensure presence and visibility in our Town Centres and other vulnerable locations. I do not want a repeat of last night. I do not want us to experience the ferocity of violence seen in the inner cities. We will not give up the streets, and we will maintain order in Bromley.
I do not intend to convene a public meeting, unless I have seriously under-estimated the amount of information available to the public. I am quite happy for you to share this e mail with the BCEF members.

Amanda Evans

Operations Manager

Two pictures borrowed from Beckenham Town .us website, Tuesday. Source, photo-credits and Beckenham discussion on the riots can be found here.

Save Bromley's libraries, children's centres, and youth services!

Bromley Cuts Concern is supporting demonstrations at the following council meetings - Civic Centre, Stockwell Close, Bromley.

Thursday 14th July - children & young people's services under threat of closure, including some valued Sure Start centres.

Wednesday 20th July - decision on Bromley's Library service: under threat of slashed hours, branch closures, staff cuts, and loss of accountability for local users through proposed merger with Bexley.
Read Bromley Times 24 story online here.

Bromley Cuts Concern are meeting outside the Civic Suite from 6:30pm and will go into meetings at 7pm. 

More details of council meetings at Bromley's website www.bromley.gov.uk.  Click Council and Democracy

Bromley teachers strike out!

The Bromley Times,  July 7 2011

Bromley Cuts Concern demo

PROTEST AGAINST THE CUTS
Organised by Bromley Cuts Concern
Outside The Council Meeting
Monday 4th July from 7pm
Civic Suite, Civic Centre,
Stockwell Close, Bromley, BR1 3UH

The Bromley Times, June 30, 2011

Bromley Cuts Concern demo

Many thanks to everyone who came to the public meeting on 25th May. Our next planned event is a demonstration at the council meeting at Bromley Civic Centre on Monday 4th July from 7pm.

The Bromley Times, June 16, 2011  On socialist organisation Workers' Liberty website, a June 'Anti-cuts round up', including a report of Bromley's May 25 public meeting, is featured here.

J30 strike website now live

** J30 strike website now live **
News, updates, calls of action, interactive action maps, downloads -- its got
it all!

Please forward and help plug the site. If you want to add an event for J30 then
please
email june30action@gmail.com with the following:

Time:
Short Description:
Location ( with postcode if possible! ):
Facebook Event link:
Type ( Action, Rally, March, Picket )

We really need more picket locations for the early morning. The site covers the
whole UK so please spread far and wide!!

http://www.j30strike.org

J30 strike

Public meeting planned for Bromley on May 25th

Bromley Against the Cuts plans to invite several speakers to share a platform at a local public meeting on May 25th, enabling Bromley residents worried about the future of public services - to express concerns, ask questions, and bring own ideas. One invited speaker, Lewisham GP Dr Louise Irvine, is interviewed in this recent film (made by Anne-Marie Sweeney) produced for Keep Our NHS Public and Health Emergency.

Open letter from Bromley Cuts Concern

An open letter composed by organising group Bromley Cuts Concern (Bromley Against the Cuts) submitted to local media this week.

Bromley Cuts Concern welcome the suggestion of the MP for Bromley and Chislehurst and Local Government Minister, Bob Neill, that councils should draw on their reserves to relieve the pressure on service cuts. This was also recommended by Liberal Democrat MP and local government minister, Andrew Stunell, in early March.

Bromley Council has £58 million in its reserves and in the last financial year made £4.8 million in rent from commercial property assets which include farms and several shopping parades.

 

It would make great sense to use some of these reserves and assets to save libraries, park warden jobs, school crossing patrols, connexions, youth and children and family centres, increase to day care centres charges, sheltered housing and children at risk reduction in funding, in-house home care provision, school clothing grants, and public toilets.

 

Much of this is still being reconfigured by the Council, and the public as council tax payers and voters need to be fully involved in the consultation process. The cuts which will affect vulnerable people in particular, and once these facilities go, will be hard to re-introduce. Investment in jobs is also vital for future growth. The £33 million cuts which Bromley Council have approved is completely negative, when there are other options.

 

Please come and express your views at a public meeting organised by Bromley Cuts Concern at 7.30 pm on May 25th at the HG Wells Centre , St Marks Rd, Bromley.

...the pursuit of happiness..?

...The economists Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett suggested in The Spirit Level that countries with more equal incomes had fewer social problems, though others protested that such countries were just smaller or had fewer immigrants... 
Simon Jenkins (The Guardian, April 13, 2011)

Bromley Cuts Concern founder-supporter Bill Kerry, in his capacity as Co-Director of the Equality Trust - corrects and comments upon Jenkins' column in published letter to The Guardian, Saturday 16 April. 

Simon Jenkins ('My advice for the happiness lobby? Start with drugs', 13 April) describes the authors of The Spirit Level as economists when, in fact, they are epidemiologists. He then follows this up by apparently suggesting that immigration and country size are factors worthy of equal consideration alongside income inequality as explanations for social dysfunction. These red herrings and many others have been dealt with by Wilkinson and Pickett in the additional chapter added to the latest edition of The Spirit Level. People can also read more about this on our website at www.equalitytrust.org.uk.

Simon Jenkins' full article can be found here and other readers' letters can be found here.

Kill Lansley's Bill

OUR HEALTH SERVICE

NOT FOR SALE

MARCH TO SAVE THE NHS

Tuesday 17 May 5.30pm

UCH, Gower St, WC1

(Euston/Euston Sq/Warren St) to Whitehall

To Keep Our NHS Public supporters in London

Three week countdown….

 

Opposition is growing every day

80,000 post cards for the March to Kill Lansley's Bill have now been dispatched round London – let us know if you need some. Postcard 

Most London boroughs were represented at last week’s organising meeting which made a battle plan to build the demonstration far and wide amongst health workers, other trade unionists, students and community groups across the city.

...in this week's News Shopper letters column - bully mayor and council officers' pay cut..?

In a quiet week for Bromley Cuts Concern in the  local media, a couple of submissions to the letters column of Bromley News Shopper, April 6th, have come to the attention of Bromley Against the Cuts supporter Paul S - who writes in a personal capacity 

I read two letters in the News Shopper 6 April...one criticising Mayor George Taylor for being too strict, having people chucked out of a meeting just for seeking information. Having watched his performance when the budget was voted through, I'd say he does have problems. Maybe we can add to them. Also Rod Reed quotes from the council's website that  28 officers are on £100,000 plus. He quotes Cameron "cut pay and allowances before services". I think we at Bromley Cuts Concern can agree with David. If we are all in it together could we not demand that no council officer earns more than £ 50,000?

An E-edition of the News Shopper, including the letters column, can be read online here free of charge simply by signing up and logging in.

Philosophy Football's Big Night Out filmed!

Mark of Philosophy Football sent link to this minimovie. Mark writes, '...this one we made on the evening of 26 March on what next for the campaign. Could you run it on the Bromley against the Cuts blog? Hope you can, do send us the link if you do. Ta.'

TUC's Frances O'Grady, Unison's Heather Wakefield, comic Josie Long, and more on what 26 March meant to them...

Video funded by Philosophy Football, shot by Consequential Films on the evening of 26 March at the Big Night Out Philosophy Football organised for the TUC. Spoken word electronica pioneers Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, comic Josie Long, Unison's Heather Wakefield, TUC Deputy General-Secretary Frances O'Grady and others contribute their views of the protest and what it means for the anti-cuts movement.

Dates for Bromley Cuts Concern Diary

Bromley Cuts Concern organising meetings at HG Wells Centre

Thurs 5th May at 7:30pm
Thurs 12th May at 7:30pm

Bromley Against the Cuts public meeting

Wed 25th May H G Wells Centre (Hall) -  7:30pm - speakers to be confirmed.

Unite, and other trade unionists speak out on March 26

'Cut Trident not public services and jobs'

Bromley Cuts Concern supporter Ann Garrett writes as secretary of Bromley and Beckenham CND

 

Several members of Bromley and Beckenham CND were on the Trade Union Council anti -cuts London march on March 26th from Embankment to Hyde Park. Their specific message was ' cut Trident not public services and jobs'. They joined over half a million people from many different organisations who are outraged at the way the Goverment cuts will affect large sections of communities and particularly the vulnerable.

 Over £1.5 billion  a year is spent on maintaining the British Trident nuclear submarine missile system.  This would pay for countless public amenities which are being axed, for extra nurses and teachers and other vital public sector jobs.

No Cuts - a young teenager's youtube minimovie

Video reflection on March 26th protest

Residents get set to march against borough-wide cuts...

Banner for the Alternative!

Bromley Cuts Concern supporter Arthur's D-I-Y agitprop banner. Raw individualized paint & cloth. Not everybody wants to wave a "stick-in-hand, advertise-our-brand" placard on the day.

Does my society look big in this?

Philosophy Football's Mark writes
We have produced this campaign T-shirt for Saturday's march, and beyond, at a not-for-profit price. If you would give it a mention on your website we'll send you a free one!  

SPECIAL CAMPAIGN LOW PRICE. JUST £12.99! Mr Cameron and his, very, junior partner Nick Clegg would have us believe that our society can do just fine with fewer nurses and teachers.  Closing down schools, hospitals, childrens' centres and services for the elderly adds up to a smaller, worse society, neither big nor better. All in the cause of deficit reduction?  How about taxing the bankers' bonuses and closing down corporate tax evasion. Wear Philosophy Football's  'Does my Society Look Big in This'  T-shirt on the 26 March  TUC March for the Alternative, the brilliant direct actions of UKUncut or wherever and whenever the protest takes you. Available in sizes S-XXL, plus women's skinny fitted. From www.philosophyfootball.com

Campaigning petition from Bromley Cuts Concern

'Stop the cuts in Bromley' is new campaign from Bromley Cuts Concern using printed petition for real time local contact and online version (sign here) with aim of placing more pressure on government to respond to alternatives.

Wording on hard copy and ipetition http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/bromleyagainstcuts/ is identical.  

To Cllr Stephen Carr, Leader London Borough of Bromley
 
We the undersigned are deeply concerned about Bromley Council's decision to make £33
million of cuts, that will affect many vulnerable people in the borough including services
for the elderly and disabled, youth and children's centres, libraries, park rangers, school-
crossing patrols, help with school uniforms, and loss of public toilets.
 
We therefore call on the councillors to reconfigure their budget decisions and use some of
their £58.5 million reserves as recommended by the Local Government Minister, Andrew
Stunell MP on 2 March 2011.
 
We also urge Tory and Lib Dem councillors to look at an alternative to the public expenditure
cuts by putting pressure on the government to:
 . curb bankers' bonuses
 . tax the banks at a much higher rate
. crack down on tax evasion/avoidance by the banks and other big businesses

London Against the Cuts?

As follow up to post here, Bromley Cuts Concern supporter Judith Wright attended first gathering of Haringey and Hackney's London boroughs alliance anti-cuts initiative. In a personal capacity, Judith writes -

About 13 boroughs were represented - we were 1 of only 2 Tory boroughs there. Each borough gave feedback about what's happening locally. I think the basic idea of this group is to share ideas of how best to oppose the cuts. Some of the local groups have been going since just after the May elections. There were also members of a Latin-American anti-cuts group and although they don't operate at borough level it was agreed that they could join.

The next meeting is planned for Sat 9th April in Camden. Some people thought only members of the anti-cuts groups should be invited others thought it should be opened up to the public and be more of a forum than a meeting. In the end it was agreed that it would be a meeting with representatives of local groups but the day would include some workshops e.g. on community activism, health etc.

Re: The Demo - someone there mentioned that at least 1200 coaches have been booked!

There are a few feeder marches - one is at Lincoln's Inn Fields, Holborn (organised by Camden), one in Kennington (South London Groups) and one in Haringey. - Maybe worth joining the one in Holborn as if the march is really big it could take ages to start?

Apparently the TUC are employing private security guards in Hyde Park....

There's also a Budget Day protest planned for 23rd March.

A rainy day has come

'A rainy day has come' was quote from former Bromley councillor Rod Reed, used by Bromley News Shopper in a story (23/1/11) on Bromley Council's fifty million pounds plus stash of reserves.

Commenting on whether councils should tap into reserves, local government minister Andrew Stunell said: “Good financial planning is about putting a little extra away when the sun is shining so you have some cover during the rainy days. London councils have put away £1.6 billion of taxpayers’ money in their town hall coffers for just such an occasion – the time has come to put it to use..."
(read more here)

Bromley Cuts Concern (Bromley Against the Cuts) plan to tie in petition for Bromley to use some of its reserves with a campaign for local people to join the TUC March for the Alternative on Saturday, March 26.

A second Bromley Market Square protest is therefore planned for Saturday, March 19.

Hold the front page!

This week's Bromley Times provides stats and details of axings, closures, reductions, endings of, plus introduction of new charges...alongside good photo coverage of Monday's protest with excellent forward-thinking analysis including individual residents' responses on page 3.
Check out Bromley Times March 3 E-edition online

'London Against Cuts'?

Bromley Cuts Concern (Bromley Against the Cuts) has received an invitation to affiliate to a wider London boroughs anti-cuts campaign. The founding meeting for this alliance is Wednesday 9th March at The Cock Tavern Euston 7pm.

A formal name for proposed grouping - building momentum towards March 26's national TUC 'March for the Alternative', has yet to be decided.

Cuts Concern letters

Bromley Cuts Concern network organiser Ann Garrett wrote, in a personal capacity, to Bromley Council leader Stephen Carr this week. This is Ann's letter and a response from Cllr Carr's office. 

Dear Cllr Carr,

I am very concerned about Bromley's proposed cuts, as it would appear that the most vulnerable people in the Borough will be most affected.

I understand that you are under pressure from the Government, but would like to suggest some  constructive ideas :-

1.  Cutting pay for top council executives.

2.  Cutting down on glossy PR information.

3.  Reducing council fuel bills by making schools, libraries and other buildings more energy efficient.

4.  Working closely with other public sector bodies to cut administrative costs.

5.  Ensuring council reserves are kept to the bare minimum recommended nationally and using some of the reserves to invest in projects that will produce savings in later years, and create new jobs.

 6.  Selling unwanted property and abandoning costly IT schemes.

You could also use your local council position influence with the Government to close the deficit by clamping down on tax avoidance, tax evasion, and failure to collect taxes. More than £100 billion a year in tax revenue is lost in these ways. £76 billion is also due to be spent on Trident renewal, another highly dangerous, polluting and costly venture.

Talking to various people and organisations in Bromley, the majority would be prepared to pay more council tax in order to save the public services under threat such as libraries, family, children's, connexions and youth centres, funding for services for the elderly, school crossing patrols, school clothing grants, and public toilets.

These cuts would be a false economy, so I urge the Council to reconsider its very unpopular proposals.

Yours sincerely,

Ann Garrett

Dear Ann Garrett

Thank you for your email which Cllr Carr has read with interest.   Responding to your suggestions

1.  We have taken £3m out of middle and higher management in the last couple of years, with more to come next year including reducing the number of directors. This is combined with another pay freeze (and the same for councillors' allowances.)

2.  Im comparison with other London Boroughs our PR budget is acknowledged to be relatively modest, but nonetheless this is certainly an area we have pruned even further, including a reduction in the number of staff employed in PR.

3.   Energy efficiency is one of the Council's main priorities.  It is investing £500k on energy saving projects.  The Council has already cut £80k of its annual spend by reducing the electrical voltage in its buildings and ensuring street signs are only lit when it is dark.  Further projects are planned which should save an additional £140k each year, including switching to more energy efficient lighting, replacing some energy intensive air conditioning with evaporataive cooling and buying software for improving the way the Council manages its computers.   They are considered to be invest to save projects to demonstrate the Council's commitment to ensuring efficiency savings help protect frontline services during a time of austerity.

4.  Talks are already taking place with some of our neighbours such as Croydon and Bexley to actively explore sharing services.

5.  The question of the Council's reserves is often mentioned.  However, the Council believes that using more of its reserves would be short-sighted as the interest  accrued is actually supporting our services in the 2011/12 budget, as it has in previous years.

6.  In November, in what was a first for London, we joined forces with Lewisham Council to purchase our ICT support services from a single provider, resulting in significant combined annual savings - in Bromley's case, around £500,000 a year, amounting to a 25 per cent saving on that budget. This innovative venture can also act as a starting point from which we can deliver other ICT projects together and continue to provide a more effective service at a lower cost.

Cllr Carr fully takes your point about lobbying the Government to clamp down on tax avoidance  With regard to the local Council Tax, we are pleased to report that Bromley has a good track record with the majority of the money being collected on an annual basis.  For the small percentage of residents that do not pay we do pursue this rigorously and in the worse case scenario they are taken to court.

Your point about people being willing to pay a higher Council Tax is acknowledged, but I have to advise that we are governed by Central Government in this regard.  If a Council exceeds the percentage increase they set each year, then financial penalties are imposed on local authorities.

I hope the above information is helpful.

Bromley Market Square protest Saturday, February 19

Saturday's protesters with placards, petitions and leaflets...

and front & back of leaflet distributed to residents and shoppers...

Thanks to Tahrir Swift for photo and Bill Kerry for leaflet

Bromley Times photostory

Bromley group to defend against ‘Valentine’s massacre’ of services

Tim Dickens, Reporter Thursday, February 10, 2011

 

Bromley Cuts Concern protest at the civic centre, from left to right  Michael Weller,  John Street, Colin Clary, and

Ann Garrett

Bromley Cuts Concern was formed to scrutinise and oppose some of the £35million spending cuts proposed by the council.
The group, led by the Green Party activist Ann Garrett, hopes that as many people as possible will support them in Market Square, Bromley, on February 19. They will also be lobbying councillors at a meeting of the Executive at the civic centre on Monday.
Mr Weller, of Queen Adelaide Road, Penge, said: “We want to create a public profile to make residents think that something can be done about this attack on our services.
“Under this budget it is the younger generation that are the target, and anything that strikes at the young and the elderly doesn’t bode well.”
Councillors are currently considering a raft of ‘savings’ including the closure of all but three children’s centres, ‘deleting’ lollipop ladies and cutting back on care services in what has been called a ‘Valentine’s Day Massacre’ by Bromley Cuts Concern.
Once the executive members have passed the proposed budget on Monday it will be up to the full council to finally ratify it at a meeting on February 28.
On Monday Phil Hoby, chairman of St Mary’s Pre-School in Hayes, handed a petition with over 500 names to Bromley council objecting to plans to scrap school crossing patrols and mother-of-one Rita Shipley, 38, has begun a petition to save threatened Burnt Ash Lane children’s centre.

Founding statement

Bromley Cuts Concern has been formed to scrutinise and, where necessary, oppose the forthcoming cuts programme to be implemented by Bromley Council. We seek to be a broad, community-based group of concerned residents, independent of any political party. We believe that the best way to cut the country’s deficit would be to clamp down on tax evasion, tighten up tax avoidance loopholes and address the appalling under-collection of taxes. Combined, these could generate up to £100 billion a year according to the New Economics Foundation. Action on tax would mainly affect those better able to pay whereas cutting public expenditure disproportionately hits the poor. If you agree and want to get involved in Bromley Cuts Concern, please email <bromleycuts@gmail.com>

This was the unpublished letter of introduction to Bromley Cuts Concern, addressed to local media, composed by Bill Kerry of the Equality Trust and signed by COLIN CLARY, RICHARD COMAISH, ANN GARRETT, RICHARD HART, BILL KERRY, ANGIE STACK, MICHAEL WELLER in January 2011.