Winners and Losers The Year the Town Hall Shrank

It's just not nice, not nice at all.

I came here two years ago

and I thought it was going to be a wonderful place to be

and it's turned out to be such a disappointment.

And it's through nobody's fault other than just the state of the country,

the state of the nation.

Who's to blame? That's what I'd like to know.

Who's to blame for everything that's gone wrong?

-DAVID CAMERON:

-'I want this government

'to carry out Britain's unavoidable deficit reduction plan

'in a way that tries to strengthen

'and unite our country at the same time.

'As we deal with the debt crisis, we must take the whole country with us.

'We are all in this together.'

ECHO: Together, together...

For a long time, it felt like the national debt crisis

was a ministerial numbers game

being played out in the corridors of Whitehall.

But as 2010 drew to a close,

the spotlight had turned on our town halls.

Now, it became everyone's problem.

PROTESTERS: Say no to closures! Save our centres!

As a nation, we'd been told

to expect the biggest cuts in living memory.

'It's time for a fairer distribution of the nation's wealth,

'break down all barriers of contention and strife.'

Over the course of a year, we followed the story of one city,

the politicians who ran it and the people who lived there.

How would lives change over the next 12 months?

What we witnessed was a tale of survival,

sacrifice,

politics...

We pray God's blessing on this meeting.

..and power.

And for all who serve this city in any capacity.

ALL: Amen.

You know, at the end of the day, we voted them in, for God's sake,

they should listen to us, but they don't.

They don't seem to listen to us.

What are they, in effect,

what services are they going to take away?

You know, sometimes in life you have to stand up and be counted,

but it's all right for the people who are really mega money,

it's all right for...for governments and people like that.

But they don't know what it's like,

they don't...they don't live in the real world!

These people just do not live in the real world.

Well, they certainly don't live in the world that I live in.

No-one likes politicians at the best of times,

and this wasn't the best of times.

'The spending review set out how the government

'would tackle the catastrophic levels of public debt'

by delivering necessary reductions in public spending...

It wasn't a great time

to be the Leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council.

But Labour's Mohammed Pervez had drawn the short straw.

He was anxiously waiting for some news,

an email from London.

It would reveal how many millions

the Government was going to slash from the council's budget.

He knew it would be bad, but not how bad.

Every part of the public sector needs to do its bit

'to help reduce the highest deficit in the UK in peace-time history.'

Stoke-on-Trent, minus 8.09%,

provisional financial settlement '11/'12.

That's worse than what we anticipated, 7%.

Yeah. Wiltshire, minus 2.19%,

Somerset, minus 1.96%,

Kent, minus 1.82%,

which would suggest that we haven't fared particularly well.

This was the just the first stage of cuts to town halls.

Over the next four years, their funding would be slashed by 28%.

The deficit for the county is minus £10.6 million

and, for the city, minus £21.6 million.

Plus then, presumably you add on your £11 million worth of pressures,

takes us into the worst-case scenario.

THEY SIGH

Stoke's annual budget was around £211 million.

The council estimated that this year it faced a £36 million shortfall.

If it's what it says here,

it's going to be absolutely dire for our communities,

because the advice we were getting from government

or the sources close to government

was, "It's not going to be as bad as you think."

Well, we were planning on a 7% cut

and we're getting 8%,

so it's worse than what we thought.

Hmm.

The axe had fallen on one of the most deprived cities in Britain.

In Stoke, unemployment was rife,

houses, the cheapest in the country,

incomes, a third below the national average.

The city had been in decline for the best part of 30 years.

Industry had collapsed

and the potteries it was famed for had moved east...

Far East.

The City Council hadn't moved with the times either.

It had grown to become Stoke's single biggest employer.

It's a good job, it's just, you know, with all this,

it's not a good atmosphere at the moment to be here.

Everybody, the uncertainty and everything, it's not nice.

And what I say, cost-cutting - front-line services

are always the first to be hit, aren't they?

Saying it affects families

because like, I say, my sister's in like this social set,

she's, like, works in a care home.

She doesn't know whether she's going to have a job so...

You know, it affects...

it's discussions now at weekends with your family

when you meet up, you know, "Have you heard anything?

"Have you had any news?"

It's the not knowing that's the worst part.

RADIO: "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley

Saving £36 million meant

the council would have to make value judgments.

Some were more contentious than others.

On the cuts list was a care home for the elderly.

Heathside House opened 30 years ago.

It was one of the last council homes left in Stoke.

Care of the elderly was gradually being privatised.

On its own, one little duck,

number two.

Shutting this home would save the council half a million a year.

Two and nine, 29.

It would still have to pay residents' fees,

but no longer the staff wages or building costs.

But Heathside wasn't simply an old people's home.

Nearly all the 30 residents suffered from dementia

and needed expert care.

-Hello, where are you going?

-Where are you going?

Where are you going? Put your glasses on so you can see where you're going.

-Oh, I know who it is now.

-Do you know who I am now? Who am I?

-You...

-Who am I, though?

-You...

-Who?

-You.

-Who, though? What's me name?

Oh, I don't know, I don't do names.

-You do know me name.

-I don't do names.

Come on, who am I?

A little peach.

A little peach, yeah, but who am I? Am I your daughter?

Oh, you're not me daughter.

Yeah, what's me name?

Oh, I don't know. Me daughter?

Viv.

-Viv?

-Uh-huh.

-Well, that's it, then.

-Viv.

-Vivienne?

-Vivienne.

Ah, it's Viv.

-Your daughter.

-Your daughter.

Now then, the picture of John and me.

John in his uniform, um...

Are you going to your room?

-Yes.

-I'll just go and open it for you.

-Will you, duck?

Yeah, I'll go up in front of you.

-All right, duck, I want the picture of John and me.

-OK.

-May?

-Yeah. There you are.

May was John's wife.

Their four children had decided to put them both into Heathside

when they could no longer look after themselves.

That was John when he was in the Navy.

He was not bad, was he?

SHE CHUCKLES

How old do you think he was then?

Ah, he's older than me, he must be 90 odd now. Um...

And I'm...

50, 40 something.

-Now?

-Yes.

How old are you now?

45, I think, something like that,

when I can remember.

I'm as bad as him for remembering, um...

But John's 90.

He's older than me, yeah.

It's funny, thinking he's that old.

Viv was the youngest of May and John's children.

Me dad's got a book that was made up for him

when he was first diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

And they did it at the day centre that he attended

and it's got all family photographs in and more or less his life story.

Um... But, obviously, I don't really know where it is at the moment.

Ah!

The Life Story Of John Vickers.

SHE LAUGHS

And this is my mum and dad's wedding.

My mum's parents, my dad's parents.

So they got married in 1947?

Yes.

-That's a long time.

-It is.

-He's here.

-I was a bit worried.

Hi, sweetheart, he says.

-Hi! Hiya, how are you?

-Hello, lovely.

That's why, you know, we wanted to keep them together

because they were trying to split them up,

put me dad here and leave me mum, you know,

in the house on her own or whatever.

So we had to battle with social workers

to get them, you know, together

because we didn't want them splitting up, you know,

it's too long to be together.

This was the 60th wedding anniversary.

So tell us a bit about where you are at now with all this.

No-one said that they will keep them together.

I just don't know...

It's something I don't want to think about, really.

Have you spoken to your mum quite a bit about it?

I don't bring the subject up

because I don't want her to be any more upset

than she is already or worried,

but she asks us about it, she keeps saying,

"There's something going on here," you know.

Like I say, she's been waking up in the night

and thinking she's got to move out.

I wouldn't like to think they're going to turn us out, you know.

But, um...I'll have to see how it goes.

If you're turned out, you don't know,

we haven't got a home now because we sold it.

Does John know the home might not stay open?

Yes, he knows.

John, look at me, while he takes a picture of us.

Put your arms down, lovey.

'He never mentions it very much

'but...he isn't quite up to thinking, you know.'

-Well, there we are.

-Thanks, May.

It's been nice meeting you two, you know.

I've really enjoyed it, it's been different.

Here we go.

-Here we are.

-Let's go in.

Coming in, gentlemen?

No? Right, we'll go down, then, May.

-They don't want to join us.

-All right.

Industrial collapse had left Stoke

with more than just an unemployment problem.

Out! Out of there because of all the glass! Out!

One in four of the working population was on benefits.

In parts of the city,

the work ethic had gradually been replaced by a culture of dependency.

CHILDREN SING

The Withers family lived on one of Stoke's poorest estates - The Meir.

Donna and Anthony had seven children -

the oldest, 11,

the youngest, three months.

Neither of them worked.

Getting them into bed is no problem,

the issue is them staying in bed and them going to sleep.

-Blake!

-Yeah.

-What are you doing?

It took a year, the last time, didn't it, babe,

for them to settle down properly?

And not forgetting that this is their...what, seventh house?

Yeah.

Get into bed!

Was he on the stairs?

Someone was, I could see the shadow, yeah.

We needed to move this time because, obviously, we needed a bigger house.

Does anybody have the remote control?!

Which one?

'But, as before, we moved from Leicester or...'

Thank you!

'And we've said, "Now we are in Stoke, we're staying in Stoke."'

Because it was having a major impact on their education, wasn't it?

It was, really, yeah.

Hey! Bed, thank you.

This is the way to bed.

Come on, oh!

-Night-night, lay down.

-Night-night.

You can watch Britain's Got Talent for half hour and then it's bed.

-Night-night.

-Night-night.

Ashley, you pull that thingy down for me,

your blind, that's it.

See you in the morning.

CHILDREN: See you in the morning.

Do you ever think, "God, when's the time to stop on children?"

Hmm, that's a good question, I've not though that far ahead.

HE LAUGHS

We never actually discussed starting having a family.

We was living in Leicester in a hostel.

Er...we'd not long just got together, she was 18.

And, er...she just fell pregnant,

so, you know, we just...

Basically, we ended up growing up.

What would you say if people said, "Well, you haven't grown up,"

because you've got eight dependants

and you can't support them financially.

It's not all about money, is it?

'To a lot of people, it was all about money, especially now.'

But their story wasn't quite that simple.

Donna suffered from severe mental illness.

It went back to her childhood,

one that she'd spent in and out of care

after suffering from terrible abuse.

Kiss, kiss. Kiss, kiss.

It meant she couldn't spend long periods in the house alone,

so Anthony had given up work to be her full-time carer.

Mwah!

'Anthony used to work 90 hours,'

er...if I was lucky, 40, 50 hours a week.

At the time, I couldn't physically carry on,

emotionally and mentally with all me children

and I felt like I was breaking down.

Why do you think Donna wanted children so much?

She wanted to surround herself with a lot of children

and people that love her

because when she was a child, she never got loved,

not by her real family, which is what she craved.

But she has that now.

'It helped explain why they'd had so many kids,

'but it meant there was a cost to everyone else.

'One that they didn't seem to recognise.'

Come on, then, she has to wait for Mummy's love normally.

Don't you, 'specially at this time?

They were now in a position

where they couldn't manage without outside help.

They relied on their local Sure Start centre.

In Stoke, they called them children's centres.

Donna's had just helped get her re-housed.

Under Labour, 16 centres had been opened,

supporting families with childcare, early education and health.

The aim was to give every child the best possible start in life

and break the cycle of dependency.

But now, the council couldn't afford to keep them all open.

Critics said there were simply too many.

PROTESTERS: Save our centres! Say no to closures!

Seven were threatened with closure,

saving the council more than £2 million.

PROTESTERS: Say no to closures!

A campaign led by the city's mums

had the support of 5,000 names on a public petition.

This was one of several anti-cuts groups that had formed.

As a nation, we were told we were all in this together,

but, on the ground, it was everyone for themselves.

PROTESTERS: Save our centres! Say no to closures!

If we can fight against every cut that they bring against us, we will.

Because it's the children, you know, it's about our future.

Other areas of the country know

that this is going to happen to them eventually.

In one budget or another,

perhaps it's not this one, but the next one or the one after,

it could be their children's centres.

So people have been on to us constantly with,

"You're the first doing this.

"Can we watch what you're doing,

"so if it happens to us in the future, we know what to do?"

Are you not about to let Stoke City Council off the hook?

Never, the other services that are protesting at the moment,

I'm never going to say that they are any less important than ours,

all I'm saying is, this is the way I'd do it.

This is what I want, this is the way I want us to go forward,

and I will try my utmost to gain what I want.

You've put the council in a difficult position now, haven't you?

It's where I wanted them to be.

The campaign hadn't gone unnoticed by Council Leader, Mohammed Pervez.

It had fast become a political hot potato,

but it was due to be debated by the full council within days.

We're doing it in your office.

Oh, we're doing it, changing our...? OK.

There's a problem with the radiator.

-All right.

-It's freezing cold.

-OK, that's fine.

But first, the Leader had called a meeting of the cabinet -

the council's senior decision-making body.

It was made up of councillors

from the three main parties plus some independents.

With no overall majority,

Councillor Pervez had formed this coalition

at the same time as the Prime Minister.

He wanted to talk strategy.

I haven't had a recent update as to how far we are

with the children's centres,

but we do need some information

as to what the proposal's going to be now.

They now have a plan,

the issue is whether you actually want to get

into trying to defend that plan at a question time

or whether you just want to bat it back

in terms of it's still under consideration.

But what we were trying to avoid is the situation

where you have to declare your hand,

because, once you have declared it,

then you're really open to challenge on it.

You're not making a decision until February.

You really need to keep the powder dry,

because you'll be reacting to them asking you stuff

and you might come out and say, "Actually, there's only three, then."

Whereas you want to be in a position where you're the one who says,

"We've made a decision in the Cabinet

and we are able to produce X,

"we're closing three, we're closing four."

Not reacting but leading on it,

that is what I was touching on earlier on.

I know how difficult it'll be for you to sit there and take it,

but you don't want to let you slip out what your plans might be.

But given what we've heard from the public,

but what we need to be seen to be doing

is listening and acting on the voices of the communities

and their elected representatives and saying,

"Actually, we have safeguarded all these things, we've protected these,

"these are what we're going ahead with

"because there's no alternative."

It was easy to forget

that Mohammed Pervez was only a part-time politician.

He was paid for being the Leader, 44,000 a year,

but also had a full-time job as a research scientist.

But politics was his preoccupation. And he'd risen fast.

If I'm honest, this is something that I'm really, really enjoying so much

that I, if there was some more stability in politics,

I would want to do this on a much more full-time basis.

One of the things I've done is

I've really sort of driven the whole budget process personally myself

and really got into it.

You said, when we first met, that you didn't come into politics

to do what you're doing now.

Absolutely, I didn't. But it's a job that needs to be done,

I felt that I am the right person for this job.

A leader should be able to work under all circumstances,

not just in good times.

-Nice cup of tea, Mabel.

-Mmm, very nice.

-Morning.

-Morning.

The Leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council is with me this morning.

If you have a question for Councillor Mohammed Pervez,

01782 208 008 or text me, 81333.

It's like Desert Island Discs.

HE LAUGHS

No, it's supposed to be a relaxed kind of atmosphere.

Let's see how relaxing it gets.

Mohammed Pervez was in a tricky spot.

As Council Leader, he was the public face of the cuts.

But in just a few weeks,

he'd be asking the people of Stoke for their verdict on him

in an election.

Feargal Sharkey and A Good Heart,

it's seven minutes past eleven on BBC Radio Stoke.

For the next hour, you have the opportunity

to ask any question you like,

within reason, to the politician in charge

of most of the public services in Stoke-on-Trent.

We'll have to talk about cuts,

cos I think that's the thing on everyone's mind at the moment,

'not just the City Council but across the country.

'Uh... You're closing two care homes,

'which, some would argue,

'is another cut to vulnerable people's services...'

Stiff, are you?

There you go. It's a bit easier as you walked a bit.

'The two homes that we're closing down are quite old homes.'

They're of poor quality

'and what we're actually looking to do is close these homes down

'and try and provide care for the elderly in the independent sector.

'The most important thing is'

that the financial pressure on the council is such

that we have to look at everything that we're doing

and try and get more cost-effective,

'and running care homes is not a cost-effective option as it stands.

'There will be an element of disruption, obviously,

'as they move from these care homes and go somewhere else,

'but, nevertheless, we should be able to provide some facilities'

which are right for those people.

How can he talk about disruption?

I mean, at the end of the day, it's far more than disruption.

What do you think about that discussion?

SHE SIGHS

What do I think about it?

SHE SIGHS

Mr Pervez was saying what Mr Pervez has to say.

I can't agree with what he was saying - we're poor care homes.

The building might not be wonderful, but the care in the building is.

And I would like him to come and have a look at it,

if he thinks we're that poor.

I don't really like that, I'm sorry.

Just backcomb it a little bit so it'll stay in,

-cos we got entertainment, don't we, later?

-Yeah.

And you like your hair looking nice, don't you?

You always have done.

'Of all the old people at Heathside,

'staff were most worried about the fate of 88-year-old Mabel Brammer.'

Is it all right now?

How long have you been living here?

20 years, been in here 20 years.

That's a long time.

I started a young, er...60, I'm now 88.

Really?

I've been here 20 years, anyway.

And what about... what about your family?

Oh, they're all gone.

I'm just about left on me own now.

Nobody will have me, really, I've got to rely on these here.

So, you don't get...?

Do you get any visitors?

No, I'm left on me own.

The office staff will have to look after me now.

SHE CHUCKLES

I'm left here...

SHE MUMBLES

I've got to rely on them.

They do the looking after me,

they do it well, though, they do it well.

She never spoke a word, when she first came.

She kept herself to herself, she never spoke for years and years.

It's only up until about

five years, I think now,

she's coming out of herself. So...

Did you, Mabel?

Mabe, you never spoke, did you, when you first came?

No, I was as quiet as anything, me.

SHE MUMBLES

You never spoke, did you?

No, quiet I was.

Now you can't get a word in edgeways.

SHE LAUGHS

And how long have you been here?

-20 years. You've been here 24, haven't you?

-Yeah.

I know you were here longer than me,

-I know you've been around a good while.

-I have.

I'm going to make your tea now.

OK. Me tea is coming.

How do you think she'll get on if she does move?

I think it'll upset her, she'll probably go back to not speaking.

Really?

Are you worried for her?

Yeah. It's like losing your family, isn't it?

Do you feel that way towards her?

Yeah.

Does it upset you?

Yeah.

Today, Leader Pervez had something else on his agenda.

Public pressure was mounting.

The petition to save the seven children's centres

had gained another thousand signatures.

To add to his troubles, Melissa was about to enter the political fray.

The city's mums had chosen her to address the full council.

She'd have just five minutes to speak for the 23,000

who used Stoke's children's centres.

'If I start thinking about who'll be there today

'and how far I've seen them all through it,

'and what everybody is thinking

'and what their hopes and aspirations for today are,

'then, you crack.

'No, I can't do that, I can't even think about that.

'Because everything... Their lives will completely change

'if this...if these centres got closed.'

You know, they've got all the hopes and the dreams set on this working.

Good luck, eh?

-I'll see you later.

-See you later.

Um... I've just had a message to ring Pervez,

which is our Council Leader.

Um... Don't know what it's regarding.

Hi, Councillor Pervez,

it's Melissa Beydilli, from Save Our Children's Centres.

Hi, hi, how are you?

Right.

But we're not here to be political,

we're here to just put over the passion

that we have for our children's centres.

Is that OK?

That's wonderful, thank you very much. Thanks, bye.

Why was the Council Leader ringing you?

Um... Not to give any political intervention, he was saying,

but if you wanted to come up and I would help you to write a speech,

then he can do so.

Do you think that was an attempt to sort of exert a political influence?

I wouldn't like to say.

SHE CHUCKLES

Um... I wouldn't...

I'd...like to think that everybody was doing what they are doing

are doing it with their best intentions

and with our campaign at heart,

not for political gain.

I would like to think that.

So, um, only time will tell, you know.

You'll be around, let's see what happens in the future.

PROTESTERS: Save our centres, save our staff!

Council cuts just makes us laugh!

'Save our centres, save our staff! Council cuts just makes us laugh!'

CHANTING ECHOES AND FADES

We'd just witnessed an important moment -

the game of politics had begun.

We now have a children's centre petition,

I'm going to invite Melissa Beydilli.

I want to start by saying we are passionate about this campaign.

We are not politicians, we're not givers of statistics,

we're everyday mums and dads,

who've been given this wonderful gift

of the Sure Start children's centres -

a place of safety, security, a harmonious learning environment

for the people we hold most dear in this society, our children.

Our early intervention can break

the intergenerational cycle of dysfunction and under-achievement.

This is what the children's centres

have been working towards in our communities.

We have done a petition and it has got near on 6,000 signatures now,

but that could be 8,000/10,000 within their household,

but we are unhappy with the way the budget cuts are going

and look forward to the next council elections.

And I hope that, you know, for the future,

we will be making it into a nicer Stoke-on-Trent

and not a place where we don't want to live any more. Thank you.

Congratulations on amassing such a large petition

in such a small period of time.

I would like to endorse what Melissa says fully.

I must actually congratulate you, Melissa.

You've hit on every single point,

it's exactly really why we wanted the children's centre originally.

I was a Sure Start board member ten years ago,

setting up a Sure Start,

and I even had the pleasure, for a period of time, of working for them.

In not being political, I am reminded of the general election campaign

in the run up to May, when our party did say

that if Mr Cameron made it into Number 10,

we will be facing large cuts to Sure Start.

And I really would appeal to government - rethink your policy.

Chief Exec, John van de Laarschot, was from the private sector.

Ironically, he'd been hired in to streamline the council.

'The piece that came out was, you know, massive public support,

'cos they want them.

'The piece that didn't come out is the usage.'

And the usage is not particularly high in certain areas,

so if you look at it on an economic perspective,

there's a damn good argument for closing some of them.

'But he was only an officer.

'He could advise, but it was the politicians who made the call.'

Do you think politically it's getting quite tricky now

to do anything with the children's centres?

Yeah, I think for the councillors now, it's really challenging,

because not only have they got to

come up with a very aggressive budget,

but they're also up for re-election in May,

so it's the worst of both worlds, to be fair.

Because that 6,000 petitioners could be 12,000 voters, I guess.

Yeah, quite easily and, you know,

and you look across the 17 centres, they're scattered all over the city,

so there are ramifications for

nearly all of the elected members in this type of call.

Do you think they are sort of thinking about their seats in May

when they are hearing about the children's centres?

Um... Well, yeah, of course they are.

The way politicians work,

they go by the flow of the public.

And given there's such given demand from the public about it,

it will be foolish for any politician to go against that.

Is it who shouts the loudest?

Absolutely not, that's certainly not the case with me.

As I say, things like respite care and so on,

there might not be a huge number of people behind them

but, nevertheless, we have a moral duty

to look after the most vulnerable in our communities and we will do that.

'Moral duty? Or what was politically most popular?'

Thank you.

'That was the choice.'

And, actually, just to show you,

I have been given a nice book

that the City Council produced on children's centres - Family Stories.

And I've been reading this.

And the more you read this, the more it sinks in

as the importance of children's centres

and what value it brings to families

who really, really depend on these centres.

So that's another hard-hitting message to me and to my cabinet

as to the value of children's centres.

# I got my mojo working, baby

# And I'm gonna try it on you

# Oh, yeah... #

In good times, the council had spent and then spent some more.

How many town halls could now afford both a city farm and a golf course?

They'd surely be the first to go.

But the size of the cuts meant much more was at risk -

public toilets,

street-sign cleaning,

swimming pools, CCTV.

Nothing was safe.

'Well, the cuts which have been outlined today, Tim,

'are across the board.

'As you mentioned, the Shelton and Tunstall pools are to go

'along with the Fenton and Burslem Libraries,

'and the care homes for the elderly at Heathside and Eardley.'

The Leader and his Chief Exec had finally gone public

on the actual cuts they wanted the full council to vote on.

For now at least, the children's centres appeared to be safe.

Yes!

But the care home was still at risk.

MUSIC PLAYS

Its future hung by a thread.

'You live with it, you just carry on doing the job.

'Everyone carries on doing what they're doing,

'we look after the residents,

'we do everything that we should do

'and you forget about the situation that we're in.

'At the end of the day,'

I firmly believe, you know,

that we've got to keep going as we are doing.

For the sake of the residents and the staff,

we just keep going as we are doing.

Keep the ship steady...

SHE LAUGHS

..stop it rocking.

Eventually, we shall know more.

I would like to know where me future lies,

but, at the moment, I don't

and, well, we'll just have to wait and see.

There had been no public campaign backing the home.

Instead, the families of those living there had to fight alone.

They'd left it until the 11th hour to go on the offensive.

May and John's daughter, Viv, had demanded a meeting with the Leader.

Her elder sister, Lyn, a solicitor, was there to help.

LEADER PERVEZ: 'In terms of where we are,

'what I want to try and get from yourselves,

'is hear from yourselves as to what your concerns are.'

The council does provide a good level of care from our care homes,

but the cost of doing that is huge,

far more than what can be provided in the private sector

whilst maintaining the level of care.

And also, it's about our vision of what the council wants to do

in terms of adult social care,

and it is very much along the lines of rehabilitation,

short-term type care

and trying to then provide a re-enablement as far as possible.

What does rehabilitation mean?

These people have got dementia, can you make them better?

Yeah, all right, well...

Cos that's just baloney to me.

Do you want to come in at this stage and...?

I can talk to you a bit about some of your comments...

Heathside, have you visited it?

-I haven't been to Heathside.

-Sorry, what is your position?

Assistant Director for Adult Social Care...

But you've not visited the home.

-I haven't been to Heathside.

-Right.

I've worked for this authority for just over three months.

No, I haven't been to Heathside, although I'm planning to.

Counsellor Pervez, have you visited Heathside?

-To Heathside, no.

-No.

-No.

I'd like very much for you to agree to visit Heathside.

And I can visit Heathside, that's not an issue, that's fine.

Can we diarise a time to do that?

Maybe you both need to visit, actually.

I think, I'd just like to say that I can understand

that you will obviously be very concerned about the change of care,

the change is unsettling and the change is difficult,

so that is acknowledged.

What we are trying to do is to give as much support as we can

and to work with the families and the residents

to find the best way to meet their needs in the future.

How will you be achieving that?

Because I'm not aware that there's been really

any proper consultation about the move.

There's lots of half... half-baked measures,

but there doesn't appear to be any real attempt

to sit down with the families and talk about what meets the needs...

I mean, in my case, of my parents.

Nobody around here has had any conversations...

There's been no proper consultation, so you've failed in that.

So that's all completely...

I have a list here...

It's just being reviewed by council and consultation.

Consultation after even the decision

that we continue to work with the families

to make sure that provision is provided?

Yes, I mean, the social workers have been working with the families

and with the residents, to undertake an assessment...

One telephone call. It's your responsibility.

But I told my mum she was going in another home,

and she couldn't... She just started crying.

How do you tell a pensioner

that she's got to be moved from one home to another?

I wouldn't move your mum. We don't know that Heathside is closing.

Nobody's made a decision.

You leave your mum in there, cos that's where my parents are staying.

Have you seen all the private sector provision that there is in the city?

-I've seen the newest.

-Sorry.

-I've seen the newest.

-Right.

-It's very nice.

It's got a flat screen telly in the room,

it's got a refrigerator in the room,

it's got Internet access...

Me mother is 87, she's got dementia, she can't find the toilet,

absolutely useless.

Now, what I would suggest is that you put on hold making any decision

and I'd like your reassurance of that.

I would take...

Because I don't think for one moment you're in any position,

you haven't even met the basic requirements of consultation...

We would argue that we have.

Well, but I'm afraid you don't really know your job.

You cannot possibly make a decision next week to close this facility.

You must put that back and I want your confirmation that you will.

And if you don't, then, we'll be applying for an injunction.

It was time for Stoke's 60 councillors to show their hands.

Today, they'd vote on a budget which would cut £36 million.

If passed, 700 people would lose their jobs.

To me, it is targeting the elderly, the disabled and the vulnerable.

They've saved everything else,

it's just one item on the budget, you can't vote on one item.

I'm there for the people, Terry, I'm sorry.

Sorry, thank you.

Oh, sorry about that.

As it stands at the moment, no.

I will not be supporting it, no.

Thank you.

It was a take it or leave it vote,

councillors couldn't pick and choose what they wanted to save.

'You cannot just take one item out of the budget

'and decide not to go for the old budget.'

I mean, the last thing we want is not deciding on a budget

and the government coming in and saying,

"You're going to have this, this, this and that cut,"

where this budget we've come up with today,

every councillor has had an input

regardless of whether they're a decision-making group or not,

every councillor has been given an input into this budget.

'Today's vote would also determine

'the fate of Heathside House care home.

'Even though he'd be voting to close the home in just a few hours,

'the Leader had agreed to a last-minute visit.'

Good morning.

'By the time we'd arrived, the tour was over.

'It had only taken a few minutes.'

-So you've had a walk round of the facilities?

-Yes.

You haven't met any of the residents.

No, I've been told they're having their breakfast

and they don't normally allow visitors to disturb them

whilst they're having their breakfast.

OK. So, basically, what I've said,

is that an email, which Viv hasn't seen yet, has been sent

addressing the concerns that were raised to me by the families

when we met with them in my office.

And it's a comprehensive email

saying what measures have been taken in terms of consultation

and the support that's been provided up to date.

And once you've considered this,

if you think there's more that I can do to try and get other support,

I will happily engage to make sure that those concerns are addressed.

Everyone just seems hell-bent

on putting all these patients into the private sector.

It's not an easy situation, I'm not pretending to say

that this is going to happen and this is going to happen so smoothly

that there will be no impact,

there will be impact and some severe impact.

OK?

Pervez, can I ask you, what was the purpose of this visit today?

Because the councillors meet in, like, four or five hours.

As you know, at the previous meeting

that I had with the families of the residents here,

they said, "Have you seen the facilities?"

And I'd not been to see this facility

and I said I will come and see the facility.

I think the point that they might have been making is

why was there no visit by a council representative weeks or months ago?

Yeah, but there have been visits from...

I mean, our officers are fully engaged in these care homes,

they've been in dialogue with the staff,

with the residents and with the families.

But it's councillors that make the decision, isn't it?

We make decisions and we know

what the provision is, but we have adequate information to...

The councillors don't have to visit every single facility

that they are making decisions on, it's the information...

And the previous cabinet member for this has been visiting places

and, as I say, the strategic decision was made a couple of years ago

and this is not any particular new decision,

it's part of the same bigger agenda.

What do you think of that meeting?

He was here at twenty to nine, you know,

and he's gone round like a whirl wind, just absolutely, you know.

It doesn't mean anything to them, does it?

I've got tears in my eyes,

I said, "This is my dad, this is my parents."

I said, "I want them to stay here."

I said, "It might kill my dad if you move him from here."

SHE SIGHS

They're just not interested, they don't care.

It isn't their families' lives they're playing with.

If it was one of their parents,

I bet it would be a totally different situation.

But they don't...

Are you going to pursue this legally?

I certainly am, yeah, I would, of course.

Regardless of today's decision, we're still going ahead.

Whatever, we'll do whatever we can to try and keep this place open.

..To the budget.

And you need to say straight away,

that's £33 million worth of proposals...

-1.5 as a result of what? Repro...

-Reprofiling, reprogramming.

Reprovision of care.

Elderly care.

'We need to get a budget approved today by the politicians,

'hopefully with a large majority.'

A lot of people have been involved, many opportunities to challenge it,

so you'd like to think it's a formality

but, of course, this is politics.

So it may not quite be a formality,

we may have a few hoops to go through.

With one eye on the election?

Of course, of course.

BELL TINKLING

-What's the time now?

-It's 2:30...

Today, we will set the budget for Stoke-on-Trent City Council.

We must set a balanced budget and a legal budget

and we must manage the situation in hand,

the cuts for Stoke-on-Trent are the largest in living memory.

These are unprecedented times.

The government have talked about fairness

and everyone sharing the burden to help reduce the national deficit,

but the reality is we have been hit very hard.

When you have to make savings of £36 million,

it is an impossible task to simply have no impact

on frontline service delivery.

Within this budget there are some very difficult decisions,

no-one wants to close facilities and neither do I,

but we are where we are.

We have no choice, closing some facilities is inevitable.

However, everything is not bad news.

No children's centres will close under the current proposals,

we have protected the most vulnerable in our communities.

And where we have to take difficult decisions,

we have been working hard to seek for alternatives.

Lord Mayor, I move the motion

as set out in this special agenda is approved.

This budget has nothing to do with putting people first,

it's about cuts...

APPLAUSE

..it's about cuts to ordinary working men and women in this city.

I can remember some years ago that we said

old people's homes would not close in this chamber

and we've got two left and you want to shut them.

You've talked about Heathside and Eardley House.

Of all the concerns I've got in the budget,

and I've got many concerns with most of it,

I have most concerns with this,

there's people in there with dementia.

None of you can know what is going on in their minds

when you change their locality.

And don't forget members we all get old,

but for the grace of God go I.

If we put this through today, you should be ashamed of yourself

and ashamed of this city council.

APPLAUSE

Let me just say, colleagues,

if you don't want to come to a conclusion today,

tell the Exec now and the City Secretary now

so they can ring up Westminster

and they can send in the heavy mob

who'll make the decision for you,

cos that's what's going to happen, I told you last time.

SCREAMS

Don't, don't want...

Not having any points of order and I'm not the one shouting out.

Please, can I say...

The legal gentlemen there mentioned due regard...

has not been exercised...

Will the lady in the public gallery please sit down

or you'll suffer the fate of the two guys that were over there?

Is this democracy?

I'll not tell you again, you'll go.

OK, colleagues, take the lady out.

There is an old saying, it's called TINA - there is no alternative.

And some people argue there is,

but nobody in this council chamber this afternoon,

Lord Mayor, with respect,

has come forward with any alternatives.

We have got to find £120 million every day in interest repayments.

This council has sat for just over three hours,

that means that, while we've sat here talking,

£15 million worth of interest charges

has been racked up further for the tax payers of this country to find.

Lord Mayor, given the extent of the challenge this council faces,

I commend this budget to the council.

APPLAUSE

OK, colleagues, I'm going to move in a second for a named vote. OK.

All in favour of the budget, please push yes.

All voted?

OK, what's the result?

40 yes, 13 no, that's carried, thank you very much.

'Here, Tunstall Pool, Shelton Pool and Fenton Library

'all closed their doors for the final time today.

'They're all being shut as part of Stoke-on-Trent City Council's plans

'to save £36 million.'

I've been here 12 and a half years.

Um, devastated, to be truthful.

Yeah, I've lost me job, I'm very sad.

How do you feel about locking up?

Happy and sad.

End of an era, if there is one.

And...retirement for me.

Excuse me...

SHE CRIES

In one afternoon, and with the press of a button,

the fate of a city was sealed.

The attention of the politicians would soon turn to other things.

I'm Pervez, your local ward councillor,

and I wondered if you've decided which way you'll vote

-and whether I can count on your support for labour.

-Not sure.

You're not sure yet?

I think it's due for change in this area.

We've found three against in a row.

Yeah, well, that one's against as well.

-John, we're going out with you and me.

-Where?

I mean, what we're talking about

is that some people could die, couldn't they,

prematurely by being moved?

-Oh, God!

-Don't cry.

Stoke-on-Trent is a city in serious trouble.

ALL: Nazi scum out of Stoke!

And we've proven that people will vote BNP

in large numbers in this city when the conditions are right.

ALL: Nazi scum out of Stoke!

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