A taster of what is to come

At the Resources Committee of Wellingborough Borough Council tomorrow evening we have a taster of what is to come by way of cuts to services and capital projects. I say “taster” because the full implications of cuts to Wellingborough Council’s funding from government is yet to be fully known and may not fully kick-in until the 2011-12 financial year. So these cuts are merely the start.

Firstly there is a paper on what is euphemistically called “alternative service delivery”. What this is code for is the elimination of Wellingborough Council’s independence in employing its own staff – but rather to either (1) share staff with other local authorities (but do not expect staff number to remain the same and improved services – but rather the services in two authorities will have be carried out with significantly reduced staff and a decline in service) or (2) - and this is the most likely option for many services – privatisation. This will result in reduced staff, staff having to work harder, with lower pay and worse terms and conditions (such as pension rights). During the 1980s many services were privatised resulting in litter bins remaining full, dustbins not collected with many authorities having to bring them back “in-house” in order to ensure there was a service at all when companies went bust or they breached the terms of the contracts.


Secondly, there is a report called the “Capital Programme Update”. This anticipates making cuts to the council’s capital programme of £350,000 per annumover the next four years. The cuts that are now proposed include:

•No allotment improvements (cut of £4,600)

• Improvements to public spaces cancelled (cut of £4,500)

• Improvements/maintenance to swimming pool and leisure centre cancelled (cut of £149,000)

• Cancellation of improvements to buildings to conform with the Disability Discrimination Act (cut of (£75,000)

• Improvements to Glen Bank cancelled (cut of £10,800)

• Improvements to parks and open spaces cancelled (cut of £1000)

• Carbon Footprint programme cancelled (cut of £135,000)

• Highway litter bins not purchased(cut of £48,000)

• Contribution towards Wrenn School tennis facility halted (cut of £80,000)

• Support for community centres reduced (cut of £79,000)

In addition to all the above, the following cuts will also be made

• A cut of £110,000 in Renovation Grants (to nil) from 2011

• A cut of £25,000 towards heritage and shop front improvements

• A cut of £200,000 this year, and £800,000 in future years, to improve the town centre

Thirdly, following the ConDem government's cancellation of funding for the free swimming programme for children and the over-60s, Wellingborough Council will now cease this provision from July.

There is also a confidential report on the Castle Theatre, but I cannot say anything about this because, well, it’s confidential. What I think I can say thought is that it is likely that previous council decisions to waste of thousands of pound to put the Castle contract out to tender is likely to go on, and on, and on…. Watch this space.

Remember… this is just the beginning!

************

The Budget: A response from Northampton Trades Union Council

Northampton Trades Union Council today issued the following press release in response to the budget. I agree with it whole-heartedly:

Today’s budget does not, as the Chancellor claims, support recovery or protect the most vulnerable. A combination of £11 billion from benefits, 20% VAT and 25% cut in government departments, will cause a rise in unemployment, a huge reduction in both front line and backroom services and poverty for those who are already hard hit by local cuts.

The coalition government is carrying out an enormous con-trick on the British Public by attacking public services. They are doing this despite the fact that the banking crisis is to blame for our rise in debt, despite the fact that our debt in relation to our GDP is relatively good compared with other countries, and despite there being plenty of alternatives to cuts. The reality is that the Conservatives, which has over 200 MPs connected to the financial sector, has its own political agenda when it attacks the welfare state and is shamefully being aided and abetted by the Liberal Democrats.

The government has perpetuated myths about the size of public sector pay and pensions to justify cuts. The combination of a pay freeze, possible pension cuts and a rise in inflation will see pay levels fall. This will in turn affect the economy as workers have less to spend. Job cuts will force a rise in unemployment and benefit payments alongside a fall in tax income, which could easily force the country into deeper recession.

The average pension of a female NHS worker is £5,000 and that of a local government worker is just £4000 – hardly gold-plated! People pay into these schemes all their working lives – if they didn’t, they would have to rely on state benefits, funded by the taxpayer.

Most public service workers earn less than £22,000 a year, and 20% of them – more than 1.5 million people – earn less than £7 an hour. Since 1997, public sector pay has risen less than private-sector pay, and for the past few years, public sector pay deals have been below inflation.

The private sector needs the public sector. The two parts of the economy are closely linked. Cut public services and you cut procurement and infrastructure as well as income from public sector workers, who are themselves consumers. Some regions in the north depend heavily on public sector jobs since the collapse of manufacturing industry.

Trade Unions call for an alternative vision for recovery. Money should be invested in both manufacturing and the public sector. Expensive projects such as Trident which will cost £100 billion to renew, and Private Finance Initiatives, which have committed the taxpayer to over £200 billion of payments, at a rate of £10 billion a year, should be cancelled. A Robin Hood tax on financial transactions would generate literally billions worldwide. We call on the British public not to be conned by politicians but to support us to retain local and national services, which once lost, will be gone forever.

*******