:00:00. > :00:19.Welcome to Austerity Town. Like all communities, saving money wherever
:00:20. > :00:25.it can. We're ?11 million worse off on Government grant in 2016/17. We
:00:26. > :00:29.need to find ?65 million worth of savings over four years.
:00:30. > :00:37.For six years we've all been living with austerity. People can't get
:00:38. > :00:41.help that they need, like myself. But how much can a community take?
:00:42. > :00:45.You have been told if anything like that happens again, it will be the
:00:46. > :00:49.police that's going to have to be involved. I know what you're saying.
:00:50. > :00:54.And what gets lost when budgets are cut. Let me just remind you that I
:00:55. > :01:01.do have a Taser here, which is 50,000 volts. Occasions like this,
:01:02. > :01:04.it may be easier to have somewhere like Selby open. As the new Prime
:01:05. > :01:08.Minister decides what to do about austerity, we show what life is like
:01:09. > :01:19.for one community - living with cuts.
:01:20. > :01:29.This is my local town, Selby in North Yorkshire. Like most places,
:01:30. > :01:34.it's been changed by austerity. Six years of cuts have taken millions of
:01:35. > :01:41.pounds out of the town. You notice the effect on services
:01:42. > :01:45.first, I think. It's the disadvantage in society who feel the
:01:46. > :01:48.effects of austerity hardest. If the pot's empty, you live to your means.
:01:49. > :01:52.You've got to cut. I'm very sorry, but that's how it is. We're so far
:01:53. > :01:56.in debt, that you've got to sort that out. I do believe that if
:01:57. > :02:05.they'd done it over a longer period, the effect would have been less of
:02:06. > :02:10.an impact on people's lives. Have a free taster... Since 2010 national
:02:11. > :02:17.spending on local Government has halved. So how does a town cope with
:02:18. > :02:25.that? Well we've spent the year here to find out. Austerity is biting in
:02:26. > :02:28.towns like Selby. This is a programme about communities and how
:02:29. > :02:37.they survive with less money from the Government. It's just before
:02:38. > :02:45.Christmas at North Yorkshire County Council. With a ?480 million budget,
:02:46. > :02:51.it's the council that pays for most services in Selby. Since 2010, the
:02:52. > :02:58.money it has to spend has reduced by a quarter. Right. County treasurer,
:02:59. > :03:04.Gary Fielding, has just found out from the Government how much he'll
:03:05. > :03:15.have to spend over the next four years. It's bad news. You ready for
:03:16. > :03:22.me? Now Gary has to tell the bosses. OK. Been an eventful few days, shall
:03:23. > :03:26.we say. Here's the headlines: The cuts, we were expecting them, yes.
:03:27. > :03:31.They're bigger and they're earlier. In terms of next year, we're ?11
:03:32. > :03:35.million worse off. So three-and-a-half months to go, we've
:03:36. > :03:40.got an extra ?11 million of savings we need to find. More than 100
:03:41. > :03:45.managers have already gone. And the council has made big efficiency
:03:46. > :03:53.savings. But the planned cuts still won't be enough. 17/18, the year
:03:54. > :03:58.after, it's ?9 million worse, on top of the 11 million. You've got to
:03:59. > :04:04.understand, just the scale of what we're doing any way and now this is
:04:05. > :04:08.twice as bad. It's not going to be such a happy new year, is it? I
:04:09. > :04:12.think you'll see more areas where we're looking for communities to
:04:13. > :04:16.take up delivery of services. You'll see that more and more over the next
:04:17. > :04:19.few years. What does that mean? Things like libraries, community
:04:20. > :04:24.transport, things like befriending services for older people. We're
:04:25. > :04:32.increasingly looking at other individuals to help deliver some of
:04:33. > :04:42.those services. That can mean asking volunteers to run public services.
:04:43. > :04:50.Terry is one of Selby's army of unpaid workers. Late as usual. Bye,
:04:51. > :04:55.dear. He manages a team of volunteers at a local library.
:04:56. > :05:04.Without them, this place would have closed. Most people would prefer it
:05:05. > :05:07.if the council could carry on providing the library service, but
:05:08. > :05:13.in the real world, that's simply not going to happen. I'm looking up
:05:14. > :05:19.bread recipes. Nationally the number of library volunteers has nearly
:05:20. > :05:23.doubled, as councils cut paid staff. Did you have some doubts about
:05:24. > :05:28.whether this was a sensible system? Yes, of course. Your initial
:05:29. > :05:32.reaction is, you know, as a group of volunteers, we're taking people's
:05:33. > :05:36.jobs, aren't we? I'm sure there are some people who still think like
:05:37. > :05:40.that. At the end of the day, I think we now know, year on year, there's
:05:41. > :05:46.increasing cuts. We're never going to go back to running things the way
:05:47. > :05:52.they used to be. North Yorkshire has so far saved more than ?2 million
:05:53. > :06:08.from its library budget, but only one of its 43 libraries has closed.
:06:09. > :06:14.Let's go to the gym. For some, budget cuts could change their
:06:15. > :06:19.lives. Simon has a learning disability, so he relies on help
:06:20. > :06:24.from his support worker Oli. Let's do some good workout. Simon's trying
:06:25. > :06:38.to lose weight. How's it going? Fine. You lost two-and-a-half
:06:39. > :06:43.pounds. Two-and-a-half pounds. How long are you doing? Ten minutes. If
:06:44. > :06:50.you find it too easy, put the level up. Oli works for the charity Mencap
:06:51. > :06:56.and it's paid by the council. See what you mean Oli. What does Oli
:06:57. > :07:00.help you with? With my banking and my bills. What else is there,
:07:01. > :07:05.shopping, what else do you help with? Day trips, booking things,
:07:06. > :07:14.holidays. Yeah. Things like that, he wouldn't be able... To do that. On
:07:15. > :07:19.his own. Nonchts. -- On his own. No. Simon gets 18 hours of personal
:07:20. > :07:22.support from Oli a week. But it costs the council ?13 an hour and
:07:23. > :07:31.Simon is worried his hours might be cut. If Oli's not there to help,
:07:32. > :07:35.what will that be like? I won't do the things that I'm doing now. How
:07:36. > :07:42.would you feel? I won't be happy. I won't be my normal self. I won't do
:07:43. > :07:47.the things what I enjoy doing. What do you think he would be like?
:07:48. > :07:54.Normally, he's bubbly, a good sense of humour. He would be so unhappy.
:07:55. > :08:09.We don't want to see that, do we? No, definitely not.
:08:10. > :08:15.Back at county hall, Gary, the treasurer, has drawn up a budget to
:08:16. > :08:19.deal with the latest cuts. If you remember when I did the last
:08:20. > :08:23.members' seminar, I said it could have been worse after the Spending
:08:24. > :08:29.Review. Well, it is now. So let's get to that straight away. It is
:08:30. > :08:34.worse. As well as cutting services, council tax will have to go up to
:08:35. > :08:38.balance the books. We're ?11 million worse off on Government grant in
:08:39. > :08:42.2016/17. So we need to find ?65 million worth of savings over the
:08:43. > :08:47.next four years. All of that assumes, in addition, that we're
:08:48. > :08:53.going to put council tax up 3. 99%. The council says it's done what it
:08:54. > :09:01.can to protect frontline services. 60% of the savings so far have been
:09:02. > :09:06.found in the back office. Some of them just, "Oh, here we go again."
:09:07. > :09:10.But they're a savvy lot. They've been through this beforehand. I
:09:11. > :09:19.don't think they're surprised. They'll be pretty depressed for a
:09:20. > :09:26.while and they'll come out of it. It's not just the council that's
:09:27. > :09:32.cutting back. In 2010, North Yorkshire police had ?147 million to
:09:33. > :09:38.spend. Now, it has about ?10 million less. It's also using more
:09:39. > :09:42.volunteers. You're going home now? So the sergeant knows? Yeah, he's
:09:43. > :09:48.been informed. See you when we get back. This is the police station in
:09:49. > :09:54.the village of Eggborough, just outside sell bri. It's only --
:09:55. > :09:57.Selby. It's only open thanks to the unpaid locals who staff the desk. My
:09:58. > :10:05.mother knitted that. I think she's proud of what we do here. He's 85
:10:06. > :10:11.years old. She supports us all the way. Volunteers, like Steve and
:10:12. > :10:19.Wayne, patrol the countryside, looking for crime. Since 2010, the
:10:20. > :10:26.number of volunteers has nearly doubled to 244 across the county. Go
:10:27. > :10:35.ahead. We're just about to leave the station and go out on patrol. Their
:10:36. > :10:42.work is overseen by paid police officers. But the volunteers will
:10:43. > :10:49.investigate, if they see something suspicious, like a van in a field.
:10:50. > :10:53.Do you want to get out? Blue van in the field. I've checked to see if
:10:54. > :10:58.there's anybody walking dogs about, and I can't see any dog walkers with
:10:59. > :11:04.it. We'll have a look and see if we can get nearer to it. If it's
:11:05. > :11:10.serious, Steve and Wayne will call the police for support. I think it's
:11:11. > :11:19.just worth having a ride and just trying to get some more details on
:11:20. > :11:23.it, so we can check it out. Before we call it in. North Yorkshire
:11:24. > :11:30.Police say volunteers aren't used to replace real officers. Hi, mate, are
:11:31. > :11:43.you all right? But they help expand the force, while keeping costs down.
:11:44. > :11:47.Everything's OK. It's their vehicle. We're just another eyes and ears for
:11:48. > :11:55.the Police Service. Rural crime covers a big, big area. It is a
:11:56. > :12:00.little bit difficult to police it. No, we're not there to take their
:12:01. > :12:16.role. At the end of the day, more eyes on the ground is better.
:12:17. > :12:23.Everything is being reassessed because of the cuts. That makes it a
:12:24. > :12:32.worrying time for families who rely on the council for help. The
:12:33. > :12:36.Doughtys care for their severely disabled daughter Molly-Anne. She's
:12:37. > :12:41.in nappies, she's doubly incontinent. She has a heart
:12:42. > :12:48.condition, she has seizures. She doesn't eat or sleep. She's tube
:12:49. > :12:53.fed. She's got quite a list. If you meet her, you wouldn't think that
:12:54. > :13:03.all those things exist because she is a little star. She is a proper
:13:04. > :13:11.fighter. Coat off. Big girl. They get ?14,000 a year from the council
:13:12. > :13:17.to pay for Molly-Anne's care. But the council's care system is being
:13:18. > :13:21.restructured. It's cutting ?800,000 from its budget for disabled
:13:22. > :13:24.children, that's a 12% cut. It scares me that I'm not going to be
:13:25. > :13:30.in a position to care for her the way that I should care for her. That
:13:31. > :13:35.scares me, because she's my daughter and she relies on us to keep her
:13:36. > :13:39.alive. If we didn't give her the medications, if we didn't give her
:13:40. > :13:46.the food and water... She relies on us for every aspect of her care. She
:13:47. > :13:53.wouldn't be here. The council says the needs of disabled children are
:13:54. > :13:58.always safely and effectively met. They don't live it. They don't live
:13:59. > :14:02.this life. No, but it's their job. But it's not the local council. The
:14:03. > :14:08.local councils have to rule it out. Yes. They're shooting the messenger.
:14:09. > :14:13.I know it's shooting the messenger. It really annoys me. I just have a
:14:14. > :14:16.problem with people in county hall making these decisions. You think
:14:17. > :14:19.they're happy to make the cuts? I don't think they're happy, but I
:14:20. > :14:26.don't think they lose any sleep over it. That's what my problem S I don't
:14:27. > :14:28.think they go home at night and they're worrying about it. Whereas
:14:29. > :14:38.we -- Whereas we have to live it. It's
:14:39. > :14:41.budget day at county hall. Today, the council is finalising decisions
:14:42. > :14:49.that will affect lives across the county. Good morning, chairman, good
:14:50. > :14:55.morning members. The council has been asking the Government for more
:14:56. > :14:59.cash. I want to thank our MPs for taking up our concerns, after the
:15:00. > :15:01.draft settlement. I do want to thank the Secretary of State and
:15:02. > :15:07.Chancellor for listening to our concerns. The council's been given
:15:08. > :15:14.an extra ?15 million over the next two years. But it will still need to
:15:15. > :15:23.cut ?50 million from its budget by 2020. So over a decade, its spending
:15:24. > :15:28.power will have fallen by a third. I can't support this. There's no way I
:15:29. > :15:32.can support anything that raises council tax and at the same time
:15:33. > :15:37.cuts services. If we look at the situation... It's time for the
:15:38. > :15:47.budget to be put to the vote. The result of the vote is as follows:
:15:48. > :16:03.For the motion, 53. Against the motion, 2. So the motion is carried.
:16:04. > :16:15.Simon's care has been reviewed. His 18 hours of weekly support from Oli
:16:16. > :16:20.will be cut to seven. The council says the reviews are not about
:16:21. > :16:31.saving money, they are about giving people choice and control in their
:16:32. > :16:35.lives. Hello. You all right? Those providing Simon's care are worried
:16:36. > :16:41.how he will cope with less support. Do you want some coffee? Simon's
:16:42. > :16:50.family lives abroad and he has no one else to look after him. Have you
:16:51. > :16:57.spoken to your dad, lately? Yes, today. Is he OK? Everybody is fine.
:16:58. > :17:04.You went last year? Sometimes you go? Yes, with someone taking me
:17:05. > :17:10.there. We take you to the airport. And bring me back. It's
:17:11. > :17:13.heartbreaking to think that mencap and the support workers have worked
:17:14. > :17:17.so hard building Simon up to what he is today. To think that it is
:17:18. > :17:20.something we're not going to be able to do in the future, with the seven
:17:21. > :17:31.hours we are expected to work with him.
:17:32. > :17:47.Care for the elderly is also under pressure. 80-year-old Jean is
:17:48. > :17:50.another volunteer doing her bit. Every week, she phones isolated
:17:51. > :18:00.elderly people in Selby to check they are OK. Are you all right,
:18:01. > :18:04.darling? I still haven't heard back from social services about William.
:18:05. > :18:08.I wonder what has happened to him. I'll keep trying, anyway. They are
:18:09. > :18:15.people on their own, they have very few visitors. They lead lonely
:18:16. > :18:22.lives. It's just to give them a bit of conversation, maybe take them out
:18:23. > :18:30.of themselves and see that they are being looked after. Age UK Selby
:18:31. > :18:35.used to visit some of these elderly people in person. But the council
:18:36. > :18:40.change the contract, now it is Jean and a phone line. The council says
:18:41. > :18:48.it is a reorganisation, rather than a cut, and money has been diverted
:18:49. > :18:57.to other services. Hello, Betty, it's Jean. How are you feeling now?
:18:58. > :19:04.Well, I was crying my eyes out. I've been so upset. 87-year-old Betty had
:19:05. > :19:10.a fall last year and the pain is hard to manage. All of the
:19:11. > :19:14.painkillers he's given me, it's not doing me any good. She's been
:19:15. > :19:20.confined to a chair in her living room for the last seven months. I'm
:19:21. > :19:22.interested to know what you've been up to. Well, nothing exciting. What
:19:23. > :19:39.can I do? I wanted to meet Betty in person.
:19:40. > :19:49.You all right? Route yes, lovely to meet you. How are you feeling? Much
:19:50. > :19:55.better after meeting you! You old smoothie! I don't get out of this
:19:56. > :19:59.chair, nicely Bennett and sit in it all day, I can't. All of these Age
:20:00. > :20:06.UK people, they have been life-savers for me. What difference
:20:07. > :20:11.is that, that they used to sit with you and now it is just a telephone
:20:12. > :20:17.call? Anything more personal is really... Well, they are both very
:20:18. > :20:22.nice, but you feel you are closer to people coming to visit you than on
:20:23. > :20:31.the phone. You get a picture of them. Betty is upset about the
:20:32. > :20:34.support she has to fund. She pays for care, cleaning and extra help
:20:35. > :20:44.around the house. What do you think about the cuts? Bad! Why? Why?
:20:45. > :20:58.People can't get the help that they need, like myself. The individual
:20:59. > :21:06.cuts can seem unfair, but if the books to balance, the money has to
:21:07. > :21:09.be saved somewhere. Selby has a Conservative MP. Both the district
:21:10. > :21:14.and County Council have Tory majorities. So, people here, like
:21:15. > :21:21.voters across the United Kingdom, they chose cuts. And those cuts
:21:22. > :21:26.changing Selby. Bus services have been substantially reduced. Some
:21:27. > :21:35.streets are left with almost no lighting after midnight. The
:21:36. > :21:41.Magistrates' Court has closed. CCTV has been cut back and the weekend
:21:42. > :21:51.street wardens have gone. Even the police cells have been shut. Two
:21:52. > :21:54.male offenders have entered the store, one distracted the female
:21:55. > :22:01.member of staff... It means officers on tonight's shift will have to take
:22:02. > :22:09.anyone they arrest to York. It's a 15 mile Drive each way. Lovely,
:22:10. > :22:14.thank you very much. The force says savings like this help protect
:22:15. > :22:25.front-line jobs. But North Yorkshire still has 160 fewer officers than in
:22:26. > :22:36.2010. Tonight's shift is busy. It's 4am and five police officers are
:22:37. > :22:43.called to a domestic row. Don't BLEEP-ing wind me up! What have I
:22:44. > :22:50.done? What have I done? Why? Let me remind you that I have a taser,
:22:51. > :22:58.50,000 volts. Almost every officer in town is needed to handle the
:22:59. > :23:02.situation. Leave me! Just kill me! Kill me! That is with their numbers
:23:03. > :23:13.boosted by a special constable. David! Heidi is another unpaid
:23:14. > :23:20.volunteer. I'm going to kill every BLEEP-ing one of them! The round
:23:21. > :23:29.trip to York will take at least an hour. With crime up slightly in the
:23:30. > :23:38.town, this is one of the change is most worrying locals. You BLEEP-ing
:23:39. > :23:42.wait till I get out of here! On occasions like this, it might be
:23:43. > :23:49.easier to have somewhere like Selby open. It saves such a lot of time. A
:23:50. > :23:55.long journey, with somebody quite worked up. But we manage. I'm not
:23:56. > :24:07.scared of you! Back in Selby, the Sergeant tells us
:24:08. > :24:12.that all of these savings have had much less of an effect on policing
:24:13. > :24:16.and some people think. It's always been the case that we've had to
:24:17. > :24:21.transport anybody who is violent to York, even when we have the cells at
:24:22. > :24:28.Selby. They are not staffed with a full capacity of custody staff. If
:24:29. > :24:32.somebody was a violent or have significant health risks, that duty
:24:33. > :24:34.of care is paramount, so they would always go to one of the larger
:24:35. > :24:47.stations, where they could be looked after properly.
:24:48. > :24:56.What are we doing out here? It's summer, and Simon has now been
:24:57. > :25:00.living with less support for Tim Ackermans. We've been through your
:25:01. > :25:07.support plan and it is up-to-date. His behaviour has already changed
:25:08. > :25:11.for the worse. We have been having phone calls from the clubs you are
:25:12. > :25:15.attending. It's about your behaviour when you are there, around your
:25:16. > :25:20.ex-girlfriend. When she is talking to other people. I get a bit
:25:21. > :25:30.jealous, that's true. You started to shout and people are getting scared,
:25:31. > :25:36.because you are shouting. I know. I just have to walk away. But you keep
:25:37. > :25:40.saying this. You got yourself into a situation where you were lucky that
:25:41. > :25:44.person didn't take it any further. You have been told that if anything
:25:45. > :25:53.like that happens again, it would be the police that are going to have to
:25:54. > :25:57.be involved. I know. What did he do? He hit somebody. You think it is
:25:58. > :26:03.because his hours have been reduced? I don't think it helped. How does it
:26:04. > :26:07.make you feel? Angry, quite upset for Simon. I think society is
:26:08. > :26:11.letting Simon down. I think a lot of vulnerable people are going to end
:26:12. > :26:12.up in a situation where they will end up criminalised, through lack of
:26:13. > :26:32.support. The Doughtys are still waiting for a
:26:33. > :26:36.decision from the Council about their daughter's care. But things
:26:37. > :26:39.have changed for them. The couple have now split up. They say
:26:40. > :26:47.financial pressures were partly to blame. I'm angry. I know you aren't,
:26:48. > :26:55.but I am. I'm sorry, I am angry because of what we've lost. They
:26:56. > :27:02.still worry about what the council might cut. If everything was perfect
:27:03. > :27:07.and we had a perfect life, I would be out to work, my daughter would
:27:08. > :27:11.not be poorly, we would not rely on the care system, she would go to
:27:12. > :27:15.school, she would play like any other 11-year-old. The problem is,
:27:16. > :27:17.our life has been given to us and we don't make that choice but to live
:27:18. > :27:32.on what they give us. At County Paul, they've managed to
:27:33. > :27:39.balance the books for now. -- County Hall. But Gary says local government
:27:40. > :27:43.has changed forever. We will always provide essential services to the
:27:44. > :27:47.most vulnerable. The change has got to happen, even on front line
:27:48. > :27:50.services. The cuts have to touch everything. That's the scale. But
:27:51. > :27:55.that doesn't mean just stopping doing things. Quite often it means
:27:56. > :28:07.doing things differently, thinking creatively about how we do it.
:28:08. > :28:14.In the autumn, the government will decide what to do about public
:28:15. > :28:23.spending. The story so far in places like Selby is saving money and using
:28:24. > :28:25.volunteers. But, in Austerity Town, it's getting harder and harder to
:28:26. > :28:52.find the next cut. Hello, I'm Alex Bushill
:28:53. > :28:56.with your 90-second update. The Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte has
:28:57. > :28:58.apologised to the people of Brazil. He said he had over exaggerated
:28:59. > :29:02.when he reported being robbed