UK cuts » North West
I have to cut my food budget to pay council tax
My name is Claire and I am on employment and support allowance. I live in Leeds. I have a teenage daughter who is living at …
Is Knowsley Council Waving Goodbye to its responsibility for educationon the quiet?
In 2007, under Labour’s Building Schools for the Future programme, Knowsley council announced that its existing schools would …
Childrens homes shutting and privertised out profit before care organizations
staff team had to reapply for their own jobs and certain people having got their own job back were then told there jobs were …
The End Of Retirement As We Know It?
As a teacher, I once joked with a colleague that there would be no such thing as retirement if I ever get to that age (I said …
Lost care hours after reassessment
At the time when my council was assessing eligibility for care, I didn’t even know what category I was considered to be in. I …
Teachers in Academy Schools No Longer Have To Be Qualified
Stop Press!
While everybody is being brainwashed into watching the rich man’s show/sorry the olympics, the tories and their …
Housing Benefit Changes: One law for them..
Knowsley Council has just sent letters to tenants informing them about the changes in housing benefit that the ConDems are …
Olympics pinching our buses?
This is not technically a cut, well it could be to the bus services in my area between July and September
Whilst travelling …
Cheshire West and Cheshire poor confused service
Its been a harrowing 9 mths here,help has been sparse,and the GP abusive,a lovely area it should of been a different tale,but …
Increases in care charges
I have severe arthritis and get direct payments and use a care agency to send me carers for five hours a day. The care agency …
Can’t afford to pay new charges for special educational needs transport
Lancashire county council is consulting on a proposal to start charging for school transport for children and young people over …
My father in law’s care has been cut
My 80 year old father in law lives in a care home/sheltered accommodation in Middlesbrough. He is housebound and wheelchair …
Nephew’s Career Down The Toilet Thanks To College Cuts
My nephew successfully passed his NVQ level 2 in electronics in the summer with a distinction and was encouraged to go onto …
Inspirational Liverpool arts collective face closure
Urban Strawberry Lunch is a collective of artists based at the burned out church (St Lukes, Leece Street) in Liverpool’s city …
What budget cuts mean for asylum seekers
The purpose of this film is to raise awareness about the plight of asylum seekers in Britain. What people need to know is that …
Asylum seekers forced into destitution
Our government is attempting to deter refugees from applying for asylum in Britain by ruthlessly forcing more than a quarter of …
What the DLA mobility cut will mean for my son
My son is profoundly disabled and lives in a fantastic nursing home, but without his Disability Living Allowance mobility …
Will Helens & Whiston Hospitals go private?
Thanks to the ConDems, we could lose the only 2 hospitals in the area to ‘private sector involvement’
The rumours began back …
Arts Council cuts have closed Greenroom, Manchester
Kino Shorts screened my short film at Greenroom and it was a wonderful audience. Friends in the North West independent film …
Universities don’t want to squeeze students but have been left with no choice
I work for a Russell group university which, like the vast majority of institutions, has recently announced it will be charging …
Young and old are being thrown on the scrapheap
I have two degrees, two post-graduate qualifications, experience in two job sectors (journalism and education) ... and no job. …
This is what housing benefit cuts mean for my elderly mother
No doubt over the next few days, people will receive letters stating how much rent and council tax they will have to pay. Eric …
My niece faces having her university course scrapped due to cuts
My niece faces the nightmare scenario of having her uni course scrapped due to cuts. Liverpool Hope University face massive …
I’m visually impaired and my wife’s wage barely covers our monthly outgoings
Since I got taken off ESA benefits in Oct of last year and my JSA contributions-based allowance had expired I also lost tax …
Cuts mean my niece can’t get an emergency referral despite severe pain
My 20 year old niece slipped and fell on the ice just before Christmas after she got off the bus and walked down her road. She …
Rochdale’s most vulnerable members of society left without access to justice
Rochdale Law Centre serves one of the most deprived areas of the country. Its funding has been slashed.
Personal touch may be a thing of the past for the NHS
I am a medical secretary and take great pride in my job. I have always struggled to keep up with my workload but somehow always …
Patients and colleagues are worried about NHS changes
I have concerns around the number of staff who are currently leaving the NHS, in particular PCTs due to all the uncertainty …
Police staff cuts: who will do the work we do? Uniformed officers?
I work as Police Staff for a force where the Chief Constable announced 20% cuts to staff in the next year. Crime isn’t going …
My family could be hit by 2,000 job losses in Manchester
I don’t know where to start, really.
Woke this morning to the news headline that Manchester City Council is having to lose …