Lambeth Labour to slash sports funding
Lambeth Labour are slashing sports funding
Almost £1million worth of spending cuts are to be made to sports provision, libraries and parks in Lambeth.
Labour are set to reduce community sports programmes and slash previously planned investment in libraries and parks to save £995,000.
Secret town hall documents, leaked to a local newspaper, revealed the council plans to make the harsh spending cuts between now and March 2008. It reveals plans to:
- Cut £250,000 to oversee plans for developing leisure centres in the borough.
- Cut £200,000 worth of sports development jobs to run community sports programmes for kids, pensioners and other groups.
- Cut maintenance budget for sports facilities by £100,000
- Scale back the sports booking service.
It means a planned expansion of the council’s community sports programme has been binned, but none of the already scheduled activities will be affected.
The plan will also see less park rangers employed to look after the borough’s parks, and cash allocated for floral displays like hanging baskets axed.
Libraries will also suffer, with cash earmarked for new IT facilities and special events axed as part of the council’s cultural services recovery plan.
Leader of the Conservative Group, Councillor John Whelan, said: “If this is a recovery plan then it’s likely to kill off the patient.
“At a time when there is national concern about rising levels of obesity among young people, the borough is cutting its commitment to providing sports facilities by £600,000.
“Further cuts are going to put libraries and parks under threat.”
