Councillor Juliet McCaffery is absolutely right to highlight the unacceptable pressure Brighton and Hove's children's services are being put under by Tory cuts (Letters, February 21). As Coun McCaffery notes, the 42 per cent cuts to staffing for the Clermont Unit are particularly troubling which is why we raised this as a matter of serious concern at the last Childrens' and Young Persons' Trust board meeting.
Sadly neither Coun McCaffery's colleague, Councillor Pat Hawkes, nor any Tory councillors agreed with our concerns. On calling for a recorded vote on the cuts, the board's proceedings fell into disarray. With no casting vote for the chair and one of the three voting bodies choosing not to vote, the very basis of the board's constitution was under question. To avoid further delay we asked for our concerns to be minuted instead.
We remain concerned by the scale of the cuts proposed for children's services and furthermore we urge officers to work to clarify the decisionmaking procedures for the CYPT board.
- Jason Kitcat and Ben Duncan, CYPT board members and Green party councillors Brighton and Hove City Council
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