THE Labour/LibDem coalition of South Lanarkshire Council has voted down proposals to discuss a reversal of cuts they were forced to delay due to resident outrage – with support from the Tories.
Due to pressure from local clubs and the opposition SNP group, price rises for junior sports clubs resulted in the introduction being deferred on Tuesday evening.
In response, SNP called for an urgent Special Meeting of South Lanarkshire Council to entirely reverse the administration’s decision after many expressed their fears that clubs and teams would struggle to survive in the face of this rise.
Local clubs and teams were told that they would face with astronomical price rises of 114% at the over three years after a vote was supported by the Tories in February.
On Wednesday, the Labour/LibDem administration supported by the Tories agreed to recommend to Council that rather than reversing the charges, the 114% increase should be phased in over three years.
It is understood that clubs were not consulted about the new changes, as well as the initial proposal.
SNP Councillor for Avondale & Stonehouse Elise Frame called the reversal a “prime example of kicking the cab down the road”.
She added: “This still doesn't cut it. The SNP budget would've given SLLC an extra £2million of funding. Your vote for Labour was a vote for price increases and cuts to services and we won't allow it to continue.
An SNP spokesperson said: “There’s been an incredible amount of anger and fear amongst local grassroots clubs and teams over these cuts. As the young people themselves have said - they don’t deserve this.
“This is a humiliating change of tact from the administration, but it fails to recognise the impact on over 16's – young people who may be at school or college and this proposal does nothing to protect them from increased costs. Nor does it propose reversing the individual general concession for SLLC adult rates, under 5’s and over 60’s group discounts.
“With another ‘consultation’ event still to take place, the administration is simply trying to close down community discussion by pre-empting the outcome of the consultation. The reversal of cuts allows for the status quo to be maintained until the views of community clubs are gathered and considered.”
Discussion will come back to the Council next week as SNP continues to call for a reversal of the cuts including those impacting young people over 16s.
