CAST October 2023 newsletter

I S S U E 3 9
CAST
monthly newsletter
O C T O B E R 2 0 2 3
Now is the time for community-driven, people-powered change in South Tyneside.
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In this issue:
News & Views
What is...defunding
the police?
Community
noticeboard
Citizens' Assembly
South Tyneside
Contact us:
southtyneside@assembly.org.uk
CITIZENSASSEMBLYST
@CITIZENSASSEMBLYST
Welcome to your
CTOBER
newsletter
Campaign to save healthy mature trees from
housing development on the South Tyneside
college site
Started on 15th October, an online petition is calling for the
protection of 160 mature healthy trees planned to be felled
to make way for housing. The authors of the petition,
recognising the need for housing, are calling for the trees to
be incorporated into the plan. You can sign the petition here
‘Fossil Free Future’ vigil: 10th Nov. @ 10:45am
The Tyne and Wear Pension Fund (TWPF) is holding its
annual meeting in South Shields Town Hall and despite their
money being invested in fossil fuels, pensioners and those
saving for their pensions are not invited. With no livestreaming
of meetings and attendees prohibited from
speaking, the Fossil Free Tyne & Wear Divestment
Campaign have organised a vigil with the hope of opening a
meaningful dialogue especially following the release of new
UK-wide data revealing that TWPF invests at least £461m in
oil, gas and coal – far higher than the £238m previously
known. Even worse, while more than 20% of local council
pension funds have now reduced fossil fuel investment to
less than 1% of assets, Tyne & Wear is way above the
England average. You can see the report here
Gathering at 10:45, why not pop down and show your
support? More info here
Two conservative candidates enter the North
East mayoral race
Sedgefield MP, Paul Howell and Chris Burnicle, Sunderland
City Councillor have both announced their decision to stand
for election to become the Conservative Party mayoral
candidate. With the decision to be announced in November,
as soon as it’s official, we’ll get you a profile of the winner!
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News & Views
Music Welfare Practitioner going from strength to strength!
If you made it to the CAST START Festival family funday at Bilton Hall this summer, you probably saw Dean
James with his guitar! After working as a Mental Health Support Worker in Sunderland for 15 years then being
scouted in the USA for his musical talent, Dean (from South Shields) is building his reputation as a freelance
Music Welfare Practitioner (MWP) and bringing music’s therapeutic value to South Tyneside. The last six months
have seen Dean and his supporters raise over £700 for instruments as well as working alongside Bilton Hall,
SURT (Stopping Unsafe Relationships), Epinay School, University of West London and Auxillia Youth
Services CIC. His MWP concept is certainly coming together! If you’re interested in Dean’s project and want to
learn more, just drop us a line and we’ll put you in touch. Check Dean out on Youtube here
Citizen Reporter’s Corner
Council should mobilise communities to resist cuts by Paul Feldman, CAST founder member
Hard-pressed councils, who have faced more than a decade of budget cuts, are staring at even harsher times
ahead over the next few years. A new survey has revealed that the Tory government’s spending plans from April
2025 onwards – which Labour have also committed to – will likely mean that services will be performing worse in
2027/28 than on the eve of the pandemic.
South Tyneside Borough Council is typical of the challenges councils have faced since austerity kicked in. It is
making savings of £3.7m in 2023/24, bringing the total amount of cuts to £190m since 2010. Like councils around
the country, vital local services have suffered as spending cuts have been passed on to hard-pressed communities.
Unlike central government, by law councils have to balance the books each year and cannot carry over a spending
deficit. According to a BBC investigation, the average council now faces a £33m predicted deficit by 2025-26 - a
rise of 60% from two years ago. Unison, the public service union, said the situation meant some councils would not
be able to offer the ‘legal minimum of care’ next year.
The survey revealed councils expect to be £5.2bn short of balancing the books by April 2026 even after making
£2.5bn of planned cuts. At least £467m will be stripped from adult care services, which include elderly care homes,
respite centres and support services for people with disabilities. Unison's head of local government Mike Short said
town halls were in the ‘direst of states’. He added: ‘This is not a sustainable situation. Local authorities simply don't
have the funds to provide even statutory services.’
Gateshead Council recently closed a leisure centre, which had more than 480,000 visits a year. A community bid is
trying to raise £40,000 and take over the site. ‘Everyone is just horrified it's actually come to this’ said mental health
worker Layla Barclay who led the campaign to keep it open. ‘There is a lot of anger towards the council. We just feel
that they didn't come to the community until it was too late.’
A number of councils have actually run out of money. They include Slough, Croydon and Birmingham, which is now
run by government commissioners who are making cuts in services. Thurrock declared bankruptcy in December
2022 after a series of failed solar farm investments saw the council run up a £500m deficit - one of the largest ever
reported for a council of its size.
The question is: what can local communities do to halt the wrecking of local services? They could campaign to
demand councillors actually resist spending cuts instead of just passing them on while wringing their hands. STC,
for example, should mobilise the community by calling assemblies and meetings to demand more money from
central government. Assemblies could link up with other campaigns in the region.
Coming on top of the cost-of-living crisis, more cuts in services are unacceptable. Enough is enough!
Got an issue? Got something to say?
Anything going on in your area and you'd like to spread the word?
Then Citizen Reporter's Corner is the place for you - just send us your article and we'll get it out there for you!*
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*We will NOT publish anything offensive. Request our Terms and Conditions here
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The views and opinions expressed in Citizen's Reporters Corner do not necessarily reflect the views of CAST and/or its members.

The first thing we need to recognise is that groups calling for reformation of the criminal justice
system and the defunding of the police are not demanding all prisons be closed and police officers
sacked but rather that social problems should be addressed by diverting money into more
appropriate methods of protecting and serving the public, i.e. public services.
What if we replaced ‘defunding the police’ with ‘ensuring there are good quality services in the
community so that somebody in crisis gets the help they need, rather than getting arrested by the
police and taken to a cell’?
Despite successive governments expanding policing powers and prison building programmes in an
attempt to ‘police away’ social problems, campaigners argue that there has been no significant
improvement in public safety. Diverting funds into public services to address social inequality and
the drivers of criminality would better result in a decline of criminal activity.
The YMCA have reported that every region across England and Wales has seen funding for youth
services cut by more than 60% since 2010, with the North East experiencing an average of 76%. This
loss of safe spaces can be directly linked to the growth of knife crime, mental health difficulties and
isolation among young people. This approach of neglecting the needs of young people and using
criminalisation as a first resort for the social problems they face has been heavily criticised.
With over 85,000 inmates, the UK prison system is full. Speaking at the Tory Party conference this
month, Secretary of State for Justice Alex Chalk confirmed that the government will go ahead with
plans to rent overseas capacity to cope with the numbers. UK prisons are disproportionately
populated with people with mental health problems, special educational needs or experience of
school exclusion. The Centre for Mental Health found that nine out of ten prisoners had at least one
mental health or substance misuse problem.
However since the introduction of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 there have been drastic
cuts to addiction services. Funding for drug and alcohol treatment has transferred from central
government to local authorities already hit with real terms budget cuts of 40%. It is a bitter twist
that the police are left to deal with problems caused by cuts in public services - although for how
much longer? Earlier this year, the government announced plans to drastically reduce the number of
mental health callouts the police respond to.
The drive to defund the police is not to simply take funding away from an essential service but rather
a redistribution of that funding to provide more effective public safety by addressing the causes of
criminality in the first instance - increased access to and provision of social housing, mental health
services, post-16 education, youth services, domestic violence services and so on. The best way to
create a safer community for everyone is through investment in our health, social and educational
systems and with the Institute for Government reporting that short-term policy making has
trapped public services in a ‘doom loop’, maybe now is the time for a new approach.
Adapted from:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jul/02/britain-defund-the-police-black-lives-matter
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Each month, our section ‘What is…?’ takes an unbiased look at terms often used
but never really explained. This month, we’re taking a look at...
What is...defunding the
police?
A video of police officer Derek Chauvin causing the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May
2020 went viral on social media and led to widespread protest across the US. It also reignited
calls to ‘defund the police’. But what does that actually mean?
NOVEMBER: What is...a citizens’ assembly?
DON'T MISS IT!
Any terms you’re unsure of?
Let us know and we’ll take an honest, impartial look into them for you.
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CAST
community noticeboard
15 ADULTS WANTED!
South Tyneside Young People's Parliament have organised an
‘intergenerational debate’ and they’re looking for adult representatives!
Debating free school meal provision, the impact of graffiti and the open
discussion of menstruation, it promises to be a great event.
Venue: South Shields Council Chambers, 7th Nov. (5-7pm).
More info here or email laura.kate.johnson2@southtyneside.gov.uk
(news)letters & links:
click the white link for more info
Alzheimer’s Society
Singing for the Brain - Jarrow
a better u NEW autumn training calendar
With sessions covering new topics including Emotional Resilience, Fuel
Poverty, Mental Health and Self-harm Awareness and Response, the
training is free to attend but booking is essential.
More info here
Looking for team training? Contact 0191 432 9838 or email
training@firstcontactclinical.co.uk
Routes of Social Change project
Interested in learning about family history and heritage research
techniques?
What about designing your own local history walks and heritage trails?
Action Station South Tyneside and WEA invite you to join them in the
Routes of Social Change project and delve into the North East’s
complex history and its diverse communities.
More info here
Do you have an issue you want to raise or discuss with your
local STC councillor?
Why not pop along to their regular surgery?
To get the dates and times for your councillor, simply select your
ward councillor from this list and scroll down or call the Town Hall
on 0191 427 1717 and ask for details.
Bright Futures
Weekly meetings supporting
women in the sex work industry
BLISS=Ability
The Chatty Cafe flyer
Save South Tyneside
Hospital Campaign
Facebook page
South Tyneside Tree
Action Group
Facebook page
Tyne and Wear Centre
Against Unemployment
Facebook page
https://bit.ly/3ZDj2zI CITIZENSASSEMBLYST @CITIZENSASSEMBLYST
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C A S T N E W S L E T T E R | I S S U E 3 9