A Socialist Students stall outside Northampton university, September 2021

A Socialist Students stall outside Northampton university, September 2021   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Katie Simpson, Northampton Socialist Party

Northampton Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) hosted its first People’s Budget meeting on 5 October.

Northampton has been victim to some of the cruellest austerity measures. The council’s lack of ‘duty of care’ was even challenged legally.

The council’s failed strategy of cuts and privatisation contributed to it going bust in 2018. Cuts to services for children, the elderly and those requiring special needs have been on top of austerity for libraries, the fire service and support for victims of domestic abuse.

Our People’s Budget calls on those services to be reinstated and fully funded. With Northampton still pouring money into PFI privatisation schemes, there is plenty of money for these services.

Housing

Housing was a prominent part of the discussion. Many have their own ghastly stories of how they have been let down by the council.

Northampton is full of empty buildings. We call on the council to take ownership of any homes left empty for more than six months. And for mass building of genuinely affordable, high-quality, carbon-neutral council housing and rent control.

Privatisation has damaged the council’s waste collection service. The service should be free, brought back in-house, with a 10% pay rise for the council workforce, while improving their working conditions.

At our meeting, we had representatives from bakers’ union BFAWU and Unite the Union, plus someone who has stood as a council candidate for Northampton Save Our Services. We will meet again on 2 November, before presenting our People’s Budget to the council. We plan to protest when the council meets to cut a further £30 million from public funds.