Last chance to have say on proposed cuts to vital youth services

As revealed by the Newbury Weekly News last year, the council needs to find savings of £297,000 from services to vulnerable young people in 2015/16.
It predicts savings of £129,000 from re-organising staffing, leaving £168,000 to be found by cuts to frontline services, with some being scrapped and others run at a reduced capacity.
The announcement came nine months after the council announced it would reduce funding to vulnerable young people by £393,000 as a part of its two-year programme to save £11m.
The first ‘instalment’ of the petition, containing 137 signatures, was handed in to the council on January 9 – the day the public consultation into the cuts closed.
A second instalment will be handed in on February 12 at the executive meeting, while the third part will be submitted before the main budget meeting on March 3.
The Liberal Democrat’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Newbury, Judith Bunting, said: “People cannot believe that the council is prepared to cut yet more vital services. There is a genuine feeling that there has to be another way of saving money.
“I have met several parents whose children have learning difficulties and they already feel they are not getting the help they need.”