Lewisham £60 million cut choices - LAST CHANCE?

[admin]

From a Lewisham Media Release:

Roadshow makes final stops to pick up residents’ views on cutbacks

The bright-blue coloured bus will make its final Sydenham appearance this week Wed 8 September - Home Park Estate - Winchfield Road, SE26: 10am - 1pm

Lewisham Council’s ‘roadshow bus’ is stopping off at the last destinations in and around the borough, giving residents a chance to have their say on how best to make an estimated £60 million pounds worth of cuts.

Our Lewisham, Our Say is a wide-ranging consultation that gives all of Lewisham’s residents the chance to give their feedback and ideas on about how to deal with the huge cuts in national Government funding.

Our Lewisham, Our Say gives citizens across the borough a chance to comment and make suggestions on:


* Which Council services they value most
* What they think the Council could do less of
* And where they believe friends, family and neighbours could help each other to improve their area and ease the pressure on public services in Lewisham.


The consultation process is open until October with residents able to complete an online survey focusing on issues and options that the Council is considering. Local assemblies will also be having their own Our Lewisham, Our Say discussions and community and voluntary groups will be invited to give their input.

The final results of the consultation will be presented to the Mayor and Cabinet meeting in November and will help the Council develop future savings proposals.

[leenewham]

Dear Lewisham Council,

I wonder how much the bus, design, advertising, marketing and pr budget was for the 'consultation' to ask us what we wanted to cut (that will be in Sydenham when most people are working, that wont be open even in the lunch hour).

How about not spending all that money on the above and sticking to the pre-election manifestos?

Just a thought.

[gurka]

Wouldn't it make more sense to actually hold this meeting in the evening when most that are actually working will be able to attend ??

[LewishamCouncil]

We are publishing details of everything that we are spending here:
http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/CouncilAndDe ... osting.htm

We hope that the roadshows will reach residents who do not normally engage with consultations such as this. We are using the Council's information bus to access the locations and the roadshows will be staffed by Council officers in order to keep costs to a minimum. At the moment we have spent less than £600 on this consultation.

We will also be using the Sydenham Local Assembly on the 11th September:
http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/CouncilAndDe ... mAssembly/

and you can take part online:
http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/CouncilAndDe ... hamOurSay/

[bigbadwolf]

Wouldn't it make more sense to actually hold this meeting in the evening when most that are actually working will be able to attend ??

Of course it would, gurka. Except that wouldn't work in Lewisham's favour, as too many people with alot of potentially embarrassing questions that may not be easy to brush aside and ignore might turn up.

No, far better to hold it at an inconvenient time of day for those who wish to attend so as to reduce the chances of some serious egg on face.

[Eagle]

Stop translating all material into 50 odd languages. English in the language of this country and anyone who refuses to speak it should pay for the translation.

[stone-penge]

Stop translating all material into 50 odd languages. English in the language of this country and anyone who refuses to speak it should pay for the translation.

هل يمكن أن يترجم ذلك؟

[Paddy Pantsdown]

English is one of the languages of this country and anyone who is unable to speak it pays for the translations through the tax system.

Corrected it for you.

PP

[bigbadwolf]

English in the language of this country and anyone who refuses to speak it should pay for the translation.

Those deviant, treacherous Celtic types, eh Eagle. What with their inbreeding, alcohol dependency and eating their dead.

Not to mention bleedin' Clannad!

[Eagle]

I am happy for translations to be paid for by us for Welsh , Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic for UK Citizens only. Aliens for Eire should have to pay.

I expected this tirade but can anyone tell me honestly what policy is for example in Nurnberg , Milan , Lyon or Lagos to aliens wanting free translations

[bigbadwolf]

Eagle, to a certain extent I agree with you that foreign migrants who settle in the U.K should be able to read and communicate above a basic level of English. Pandering to every communicative obstacle will only engender idleness.

But, there has to be some allowances to give them an even chance of success. A bit like when I was taught to read and write when I was a child. If the teacher had simply pointed at the words 'cat' and 'dog' without there being an accompanying picture, then my progress would've moved at a far slower pace. The same applies to an adult whose mother tongue isn't English. They need a bit of direction.

The world is getting smaller every year. And the only place where every migrant that arrives on our shores with a good to advanced grasp of English is an ideal world. But an ideal world doesn't, and will never, exist.

[Eagle]

Very balanced reply thanks

No problem with translating every language under the sun. All I am saying is to save money ( what these posts are about ) they should pay for the service.
Surely no one can object to this. We all agree these translators cost a great deal of money , they should be financed by those requiring the service

[bigbadwolf]

It all comes down to circumstances. If a foreign migrant is, for whatever reason, arrested, then a translator should be appointed so as to let the suspect know exactly what's being discussed in detail. Because if it comes to court and it turns out that the defendant was at an avoidable disadvantage during the first interview, then the defence will, as a consequence, be able to free a potentially violent criminal back on to our streets.

In those circumstances, the bill should be picked-up by the taxpayer.

On the other hand. If, when filling out an application form for benefits, the applicant needs help translating and filling out the application form, then they should be liable to pay a fee for the service. Whether it's demanded up front, or deducted from any subsequent benefits.

That said, the whole thing could be avoided to a great extent if, when applying to enter the country, the applicants English literacy is assessed so as to evaluate how well they'll integrate into society without the need for constant assistance on behalf of the state.

[Eagle]

I agree , but my point is that is NOT what happens now.

[leenewham]

I don't understand why we translate into so many other languages either. To settle in the UK you HAVE to speak English. It's part of the test to get the visa.

My wife is from another country (she speaks English better than I do!). She believes that anyone coming to live here should speak understandable English. Years ago my flatmate was an interpreter for the Home office, she was from Peru. I met loads of people from Latin America and in every instance when the subject came up (which is did a lot!), they all thought we were mad to translate so many documents into other languages. They WANTED to learn English, one of the best ways of learning a language is to immerse yourself in the language. You do pick it up. If you HAVE to speak or read a language then you DO pick it up.

I've found a similar story wherever I have travelled. I don't think it's racist or disrespectful to say anyone should learn the language in the country wherever they live, it's just common sense. I believe that is the right thing to do and rather than translating leaflets, help people learn the language.

There are lots of good language books in Local libraries. You will find a section in Sydenham library for instance. Or you can use the computers there to learn.

The government talk about putting libraries in pubs. What if it was the other way around? Why not put a cafe in a library? Why not bring a bank into a library? Or a post office. Or a newsagents? Why not get Amazon to sponsor them, so you can try before you buy rather than just racing to shut 5 out of 12 libraries in a VERY short space of time.

[Eagle]

What a good post. Unfortunately zero chance of LBL taking any notice.