Cuts roundup: 120,000 jobs at risk: Public and private

by John Stevenson and Fiona Montgomery

The human cost of cuts topping £700m - with over 7,000 jobs going from local government and nearly 4,000 from health - was brought into sharp focus in February as the Scottish Government and councils set their budgets.

Trade unionists, community groups and members of the public lobbied council meetings across Scotland to urge their elected members to put the needs of their communities first when setting budgets.

Mike Kirby, UNISON’s Scottish Secretary, said: “To let the government dictate how council funds are spent is absolute madness and sounds the death knell for democracy.

“Democracy is the defining difference between public and private services and it is vital local authorities are able to allocate funds based on the local needs of their communities, not political ideology.

“This move by the Government is an attempt to handcuff our councils and our elected officials need to stand up for their communities and set a needs-based budget that protects our public services.”

And Scottish Organiser Dave Watson warned of the folly of the cuts: “We calculate that some 60,000 public sector and 65,000 private sector jobs could go in Scotland.

“They could cost the Treasury around £500m in lost tax revenue and £640m in increased benefit payments - adding to the annual deficit and almost entirely cancelling out the saving to the public sector pay-bill.”

Edinburgh members lobbied the council as the Lib Dem/SNP budget, threatening 1,200 jobs, was voted through on the casting vote of the Lord Provost cutting £90 million over three years.

Labour’s alternative budget, pledging no compulsory redundancies and a living wage of at least £7.15 for the lowest paid, was beaten despite the Tories voting with them. The Council also voted to close the Blindcraft factory.

Glasgow saw cuts of £60 million with 2,600 staff leaving over three years through voluntary redundancy and early retirement.

Aberdeenshire approved budget cuts of over £50 million. The UNISON branch warned of the damaging impact that this will have on jobs, services and the local economy.

Kate Ramsden, Branch Chair said: “Cuts to public services are driven by political ideology and not economic necessity.

“In fact, as many respected economists have pointed out, public service cuts will only make things worse. Look at Ireland which went down the same austerity route. That shows beyond a doubt that it is not the way to repair the economy.

“And we are not ‘all in this together’, added Kate. "Cuts will hit the poor and low paid much more than the rich. You only have to look at the “business as usual” banks to see that. They have announced a £6 billion bonus pay out for this year which is the same amount that is being cut from public services. How can the Westminster government justify that?” she asked.

Aberdeen City’s Lib Dem/SNP administration began putting through cuts of £127million over five years. It pulled back from the 900 compulsory redundancies decision to a voluntary redundancy scheme for 600.

East Ayrshire Council was looking to close a funding gap of £8.26M, with 260 FTE jobs to go. North Ayrshire Council is looking to cut £1.68m from its budget through savings in personalisation of home care. The council is set to cut 327 FTE posts in 2011/12 with nearly £9m savings agreed at the February budget meeting.

Moray Council has cut £9.4 million on a budget of £193m, with 75 jobs to go.

South Lanarkshire Council. £25m cuts in a budget of £715m - 340 jobs to go. Click here for case study.

Stirling council will be making £30m of cuts at £10m per year from 2011-2014, with the loss of 360 posts from a workforce of 4,500. This includes the closure of two primary schools, Proposed savings of more than £700,000 in social care and increasing charges by up to 10%.

Highland’s Independent/Lib-Dem/Labour administration had been proposing to slash all 344 mostly part-time classroom assistant posts to save in the region of £1.5 million but at the last minute called for a ‘review’ of the plan. But UNISON says the move would only delay the inevitable and create further worry and uncertainty for employees, parents and children.

“Morale is going to go down because they don’t know whether they are going to have a job or not,” said Highland branch secretary Liz Mackay.

“It’s just a form of words which does not give our members any assurances on their jobs.

“UNISON will still be campaigning — we are not taking our foot off the pedal at all.”

In East Renfrewshire the Labour Council pushed through cuts but also a pledge for a living wage.

This was one of the few bright notes on a day when £450 million was cut from council budgets across Scotland with thousands of jobs at risk and services decimated.

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