SIR – Worcestershire county councillors have been forced into a fiscal bloodbath. The cuts of approaching £100 million planned for the next few years will take no prisoners. From home care to the very lighting on the street, the county will feel the impact. Bus routes slashed and fares increased. The council workforce halved. It’s a black day for local communities and for those vulnerable needing support. Make no mistake this is a chosen course. The Coalition government could have done things differently but there is an ideologically anti-public services agenda behind it. No doubt councils had to take a share of the collective pain in this austerity era but isn’t this taking it a step too far? Now, what of those who need their bus service for essential travel, perhaps to and from work?

How about the impact on consumer activity of poorer public transport and darker streets or of the greater opportunity of crime and lessened chance of detection in dimmer streets?

What about the very many people clinging on to their independence who need home care as a viable alternative to becoming another component to the healthy profit of a care home? And half the workforce to go? What share of the pain will the senior officers and elected councillors themselves take?

And another chilling thought is ‘what next’?

Will this really be the end of the scorched earth attack on local services? The very notion of ‘community’ is being sacrificed.

Andrew Brown

Worcester