Much of the money will tackle crime and help young people
Councillors are set to agree additional investment of almost £1 million to help tackle crime and support vulnerable children and young people in Hounslow.
Tonight (Tuesday, 12 June) the council’s cabinet will discuss plans to invest the additional funds in areas such as more social workers for foster children, improvements to the transport service for children with special educational needs, and reducing youth offending.
Cllr Jagdish Sharma, leader of the London Borough of Hounslow, said:
“We have been working hard to make sure Government cuts to our funding are not having damaging consequences for our residents, but we have also put in place plans to increase funding in key areas that matter to local people.
“Most of the investment will be in supporting vulnerable children and young people, who need our help to get the best possible start in life.
“This money will help reduce the rates of young offending – getting young people into work or training and away from crime.
“It will also provide additional social workers to support foster carers, and improve the transport service for children with special educational needs.
“We are also investing more to help schools meet the tougher demands of the new Ofsted regime, and also provide support to those schools which are doing well to improve, which can be shared across the borough.”
Community safety initiatives such as tackling domestic violence, anti-social behaviour and retail crime are also proposed to receive an increase in investment to help residents feel safe in the borough.
Additional funding is also proposed for Hounslow Music Service to ensure more than 7,000 local children continue to receive music tuition despite significant cuts to the services funding by the Government.
There are also proposals to invest in tackling the number of empty properties in the borough, building on the success of recent years and bring 250 homes back into use.
These are the first schemes to receive investment from a £2 million fund agreed by the council for the 2012/13 financial year. Further funding for schemes will take place later in the year.
The schemes being discussed for funding include Foster carers; youth offending ; SEN Home to School Transport ; Community Safety; Hounslow Music Service, Empty Homes, and a range of other bids for funding.
June 12, 2012