Governments Spending Cuts in Camden and Hampstead

The government cuts were announced yesterday in an attempt to solve the deficit incurred over the past few years due to the banking crisis. Obviously we all knew this would be coming, and despite being reasonably neutral when it comes to politics, I find the many cynical comments attacking our current government a little unfair. Whichever government that was voted into power was obviously going to have to make cuts. The nature of the beast I guess…

But how will these cuts affect us on a personal level in Hampstead? Obviously one of the major cuts is in the armed forces (42,000 military jobs are disappearing) and naturally, that may affect people on a personal level through thier family, but of course it’s unlikely to affect the way of life in Hampstead. Equally so, many may be affected on a personal level by the 490,000 civil service jobs that are being cut by 2014, but once again, it’s unlikely to drastically affect us here in Hampstead.

So what will affect us? There’s a reasonable list to choose from: social housing benefits are being cut, as are road-building schemes (though I’m quite certain that Hampstead has all the roads we need, and seeing as the entire high street just got re-surfaced, I think we’re Ok in that department.) Child benefits for over-16s have been cut, as well as some prisons being closed. Once again, all case-sensitive. One area however that will be affected (although not as badly as feared) is the arts.

Hampstead is of course an artistic area of town. Fabled for it’s writers and artists who use the area around the heath for inspiration. The arts sector was expecting major cuts, and although there have been some, it’s not been as bad as expected. Only about 100 arts bodies will have their funding cut and the majority of art establishments in Hampstead won’t be affected. Interestingly as well, the Mayor of Camden’s ‘pet project’ this year is music. Interestingly, despite the cuts, events such as free gigs in Holborn Library and the Council Chamber have been organised and I imagine will be the start of many.

It’s not all doom and gloom though! Good news for Hampstead’s Royal Free hospital is that the NHS budget will in increasing yearly until 2015. In addition to that, the budget for schools will continue to be protected, which of course is good for our local schools, and especially new start-up St Luke’s.

So how do people feel about the cuts? Have regular members of society been less affected than previous thought, or is it as bad as people are claiming?