David Laws MP Welcomes County Council Extension To Young Carers Cut Consultation
David Laws, MP for Yeovil Constituency, has today welcomed the decision by Somerset County Council to extend the public consultation period to examine proposed cuts to Somerset’s Young Carers Project budget, but warned that “we need to keep the pressure on”.
The decision, announced at a Scrutiny Meeting today is the result of a period of protest against the Conservative County Council which had previously attempted to impose stringent cuts with minimal public consultation. The Consultation on the proposed 50% cut to the staffing budget supporting young carers in Somerset will now last until 15th March, offering hope that the Council may reverse its decision.
Commenting on the announcement, Mr. Laws said:
“It’s welcome that the Conservative County Council has allowed some much needed breathing space to think again about its decision; however we now need to make sure that the proposed unacceptable cuts are cancelled.
“We need to keep the pressure on the County Council to make sure this isn’t simply delaying the original plan. Everyone I’ve spoken to who is involved with the Young Carers Project has told me that the scale of these cuts will wreak enormous damage on vulnerable young people and their families. This policy can’t be allowed to go through and we need to use these weeks to get the Council to rethink this destructive proposal”.
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