Tip of the iceberg

The newly elected Tory government has wasted no time in implementing its latest dose of austerity, with chancellor George Osborne putting forward ÂŁ3bn in spending cuts yesterday (June 4), which are to be made in the next financial year.

 
In a shock move, the chancellor has fast tracked the cuts even before the emergency budget he’s called a month from now on July 8.

 
The cuts are as deep as they are wide – the only areas which have been ring-fenced from cuts are the NHS, foreign aid and the schools budget.

 
Where the axe will fall

 
The Department of Education will be forced to shave ÂŁ450m, which, because schools are protected, will mean that sixth-form colleges are threatened, and certain child services could be cut, including the protection of children at risk.

According to the Independent, “doubts have grown on childcare funding”, just months after the Tories pledged to double free childcare provision as one of their central promises to the electorate.

 
Although the NHS is protected from spending cuts, a jaw-dropping £200m will be slashed from public health grants to local authorities. These cuts will hobble local authorities’ ability to tackle central public health issues such as childhood obesity, smoking, substance abuse and sexual health provision.

 
A British Medical Journal article from earlier this year shined a light on how public health funding has already been decimated after responsibility for public health was transferred from the NHS to local authorities last year.

 
Another government department that will see deep cuts is the department of Business, Innovations and Skills. According to the Guardian, the cuts will be made to areas in the department that have “already been hit hard”, including funding to further and higher education, with further education to be left most exposed to cuts.

 
Earlier this year, the Association of Colleges said that the cuts adult education has already endured over the last five years, will mean that, if future cuts go through, “adult education and training in England will not exist by 2020.”

 
The department of Work and Pensions will have to shave a further ÂŁ105m to their budget, after already having made ÂŁ2bn in savings in 2009-10 and 2014-15.

 
One arena in which the DWP hopes to make “efficiency savings” is by giving the department more powers to recover debt after granting loans to benefits claimants who are deemed to be in a crisis situation.

 
The selling off of the remaining 30 per cent stake that the government held in the Royal Mail, which now completely privatises the mail delivery service, will, Osborne contends, raise ÂŁ1.5bn.

 
The sell-off, which was announced yesterday, was met by broad criticism, including from Unite.

 
“Selling off the last remnants of the family silver to pay for self-defeating austerity will further undermine the future of the universal postal service,” argued Unite officer Brian Scott, who represents Royal Mail managers.

 
Only the beginning

 
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has again come out against the way the government has presented austerity cuts to the public, arguing that Osborne has misled the public over the drastic cuts to be made if the government is to meet its goal of eliminating the deficit by 2018-19.

 
IFS deputy director Carl Emmerson noted that since the government has pledged to ring-fence the NHS, school spending and overseas development, other departments would, over the next five years, have to face deep – and deeply unpopular cuts.

 
Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner agreed that these cuts are just the tip of the iceberg.

 
“Osborne’s salami slicing of essential public services is only the beginning of what we can expect from this austerity-crazed Tory government,” he noted. “The chancellor says this is all part of their ‘long-term economic plan’ but these cuts now being rushed through are incredibly short-sighted and will spell pain for not only the most vulnerable but for everyone.

“When we look at what’s being cut we see exactly how the Tories seek to undermine the public’s will by making massively unpopular cuts through the backdoor,” Turner went on to say. “They’ve ring-fenced the NHS budget, but they slash £200m in grants to local authorities for public health. They ring-fence the budget for schools, but then they make cuts that threaten essential children’s services, including protection for children at risk.”

Instead of passive acceptance in the face of unprecedented cuts, Turner called for solidarity and action.

“Now is the time for everyone who is affected by public spending cuts – and over the term of this government, this will literally mean everyone – to come together in concerted opposition to ideological austerity. Our future, and our children’s future, depends on it.”

Come join Unite and campaign groups from across the country on June 20 for the People’s Assembly anti-austerity demo. Find out more here.