Services will go in cuts frenzy

Local government services in the historic city of Bristol will be shredded because of swingeing cuts imposed by the Tory government, trade unions warned today (Monday August 22).

Care for older and vulnerable adults, and support for children and families are among the services under threat as the city council wrestles with an imposed funding cut of ÂŁ60m by 2020, starting in April 2017.

As well as these pending cuts, the council has revealed a shortfall in the savings that should have been achieved between 2014 and 2017 of ÂŁ43m.

To balance the books, the council will make around 1,000 employees redundant – out of a total workforce of 6,500. But this will save only £29m from the shortfall of £43m. The unions are pressing for voluntary severance as the preferred option.

Responding to today’s announcement by the council, the unions have come up with a four-point plan to stave off the worst effects of the planned cuts.

The plan calls for meaningful consultations to deliver quantifiable savings to resolve the current budget shortfall and future savings; reviewing the decisions behind the budget shortfall in the 2014-2017 period; a review of consultancy, agency and casual contracts to ensure value for money from these contracts in future.

The plan also asks the mayor, Marvin Rees, to make representations to Whitehall on the state of local government finance and the impact on Bristol’s 450,000 population of these cuts.

Unite believes the realities of slashing 15 per cent of the workforce will place unsustainable pressure on services for caring for older and vulnerable adults, and support for children and families. It will also mean cuts to sports and leisure facilities, libraries, waste services, street cleaning, highways and parks, with further cuts to come in the next three years.

“The council needs to be up front with residents about what the cuts will mean for local services,” said Unite regional officer Stuart Davies.

“These cuts represent a clear danger to the fabric of the great city of Bristol. The scale of the current and future cuts that have been forced upon the council by an ideologically-driven austerity agenda by the current Conservative government will inevitably mean damaging cuts upon vital services that the people of Bristol rely on so heavily.”

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