The street that cut everything

By Natan Doron / @natandoron

Last night the BBC aired a programme about a street that agreed to have all its council services cut for 6 weeks. The street would have their council tax money returned and would be expected to go it alone for the duration of the experiment. The sensationalist idea for ‘The street that cut everything’ had already drawn criticism from the Conservative party including Stephen Hammond MP.

There was the entertaining sight of watching residents have to deal without streetlights, clean up graffiti and even deal with a mass BBC sponsored dog fouling episode. The last incident seems to be the one that conjured up the most anger amongst residents, sparking outrage from local councillors. But the show hinted at some more sensitive issues around council provision. Recovering cancer victim, single mother of two and trainee social worker Tracie had to convince her neighbours that their collective pool of money should help replace her lost council services such as free school meals, after school club fees and her housing benefit.

To the credit of the street they all (but one person) voted to give Tracie the help she asked for. There was however a sense of resentment amongst some residents, including a group of neighbours who bad-mouthed about Tracie in her absence including joking about whether they could evict her from the street. One particularly unimpressed gentleman told Tracie to her face that she shouldn’t have so many kids if she couldn’t cope without benefits.

The show got tense around the issue of Tracie’s benefits but as the 6 weeks came to an end, there was the heartwarming sight of residents clapping the return of council waste collections and a countdown to the street lighting being restored followed by cheers as if it were marking the incoming of a new year.

It would perhaps be more heartwarming to fast forward a few years and have residents clap Tracie’s eldest daughter graduate from University after some help from the state, or even to applaud Tracie qualifying as a social worker and finally become able to shoulder the burden of rent without state provision. At the end of the day, taxation is an important way of pooling our resources but are we really only in it for our street lighting and waste collection? I personally am proud for part of my wages to be taxed and go to help someone like Tracie. She’d clearly fallen on hard times, and was a proud woman who felt a sense of independence despite relying on state benefits to help her through this period.

At the end of the day, this programme probably wouldn’t have changed anyone’s mind about whether councils spend our money wisely or not. But I personally would like to see more politicians arguing why helping people like Tracie is a worthy and noble cause, and one of the best way to spend taxpayer’s money. Because all of us can fall on hard times, and the fact that as a society we help each other through state provision when we do is a credit to our nation.