The Cutbacks have affected us already. Have they affected you?

[donkeyderby]

Inclusive afterschool club we've relied on is going to have to 'rationalise' places due to lack of funding. Probably reduce to 2.5 hours per week (no restrictions for NS kids as they don't require 1:1).

Heard that Direct Payments are being freezed.

Charges for previously free LA and voluntary services.

Chip, chip, chip....

This is before the 25% cut in services demanded by the coalition government

Feeling a bit gloomy...Are you?

And you know what? don't be surprised they lie to you: everything they say starts 'it's all someone elses fault we was lied to and robbed poooor us'

Now even if its true I wish they would STOP BLEATING

Truth be told i'd vote for a mad green lobster carrying a vat of thermidor sauce and dancing a tango if he promised not to spend all day blaming everyone else.

Unfortunately, David Cameron is not influencing how Council's manage their cuts, so even if his intentions were good, the LA's intentions are not.

How ridiculous limiting respite to single parents. That will surely just increase the number of single parents as marriages split up. There are single parents who really are on their own and there are single parents who operate a really effective shared parenting and therefore get more of a total break than people in relationships. DS has woken up at 4.30am every day for a month (fucking seagulls) and that means both of us wake up. If we lived apart, we'd take it in turns to sleep through and get a break.

True DD

Though if DC were really that worried the crap about DLA keeping people out of work wouldn;t have been included in the budget but I won't go there PMSL- that's why I started my blog, to rant about stuff like that

True mainly wrt to single parents- a single aprent who lives in the same road as three generations of willing Mum, Dad, Aunty and sibling is better off than DH and I as a couple many miles from anyone at all. (It may seem tehre are few of the extendeed famillies but back where I hail from theya re everywwhere: my parents operate one indeed)

It's the 2 SN kids + isolation but that gets us our help, cases need to be assessed individually.

And anyway you can be a coupleaand still effectively single in terms of caring on a day to day basis- army aprents, even 'just' long hours: DH used to work 6am - 10am, I know I had shared finances, someone to chat it through and all of that which of course was valuable but when it came to doing the kids, it was me or me.

Thank goodness those days are gone: our marriage abrely survived it!

If I were your friend, I would write to the local paper. Unfortunately, this is often the only option as it embarrasses the LA and gets to the very top.

I think you're probably right DD, sadly.

Theyw ouldn;t help us when I was pg either; Dh worked a fair trek away then and I didn't know what I would do if I went into labour and he couldn;t be located (happened in his job, he'd be sent out and about).... sorry love,, nothing we can do. In the end I hired a Doula and planned a homebirth, and fortunately DH was on a night off when ds4 arrived- especially as it was a 35 minute labout so no way he could ahve been home, and one MW only just amde it and needed help to eb ready, other arived a good few minutes post delivery.

But SSD just said nope.

East Sussex Autistic society has announced it's closure in local paper yesterday. Provides a range of direct services like outreach. Funding from LA stopped and charity funding is down everywhere.

i saw that
terrible