Guy Jacobs, Leicester Socialist Party
Socialist Party members took part in a council consultation on the ‘relocation’ of St Matthews Community Centre. It comes as Leicester City Council aims to make £2.1 million cuts to the libraries and community centres budget.
The councillors there, Vi Dempster and Mohammed Dawood, tried to push the narrative that the current building was too expensive and that they could move the building and reduce costs without impacting on the quality of service. Many of those who had come to the consultation were sceptical of this claim, highlighting the fact that the current community centre is the ‘heart of the community’ and that there are no suitable buildings in the vicinity to move it to.
Any questions raised that highlighted the inadequacies of this plan were dodged by councillor Dempster. When one Socialist Party member asked if she could guarantee that the level and quality of services would not drop, and highlighted the austerity nature of these decisions, she simply denied that this was austerity, but refused to give any guarantees that services would not be made worse. However, she did acknowledge that the indoor sports hall (which has currently been closed for two years due to structural issues) would not be able to be relocated within the St Matthews area, already showcasing one of the services that will be lost in the relocation.
The consultation highlighted the anxiety that these cuts have caused among an already deprived community. A community for which the community centre plays a key role in providing vital services such as adult education and spaces for groups to come together and socialise.
The relocation of this space will inevitably be combined with cuts to services. We are demanding that the council invests in improving the current building. The council should actually stand up for communities and, instead of continuing austerity, demand the funding needed from central government.
