Simon Roberts // PHOTOGRAPHY / City Councils
Star Chambers by Simon Roberts
Simon Roberts, has taken a series of portraits of city council meetings as they set their budgets for the coming year of austerity; a period which has seen the slashing of public spending as council’s attempt to implement some of the severest reductions in government funding in a generation. All part of the governments plan to deal with the huge budget deficit (estimated at £155bn). While there has been much talk of the cuts, the harsh reality of how each of us will be personally affected is starting to become a reality. This year promises to be one of social and economic misery with major job losses, the closure of adult social care, libraries, sports centres, museums, day centres and care homes for older people, scrapping of SureStart in some areas, rubbish being collected less frequently and council flats being left un-repaired for longer. The recent local elections (held on May 5 2011) brought major changes in council’s across the country, including the loss of over 550 Liberal Democrat councillors and the party being removed from power in cities like Newcastle and Sheffield.
Councils photographed were – Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield.
