{"id":7251,"date":"2016-01-07T16:12:56","date_gmt":"2016-01-07T16:12:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=7251"},"modified":"2016-01-08T12:37:36","modified_gmt":"2016-01-08T12:37:36","slug":"the-most-painful-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=7251","title":{"rendered":"The most painful cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Council services, including elderly care, children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s centres, parks and libraries, among other vital services, have suffered desperately under the weight of the previous government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spending cuts, which amounted to an \u00c2\u014118bn cull in real terms since 2010.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But local authorities\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pain is far from over, after the Chancellor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s autumn statement revealed they will continue to bear austerity\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s greatest burden.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The central government grant \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the primary source of local authority funding, worth \u00c2\u014118bn \u00e2\u20ac\u201c will be phased out entirely by 2020, leaving local authorities facing a gaping \u00c2\u01414.1bn-a-year black hole.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chancellor George Osborne contends that the shortfall will be made up by new measures that will devolve power to local government, representing what he calls a \u00e2\u20ac\u015brevolution in the way we govern this country\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These measures include allowing local authorities to control and keep 100 per cent of receipts from business rates and property sales, as well as allowing councils to raise their council tax by 2 per cent to fund social care.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But Unite national officer for local authorities Fiona Farmer argues that this is a red herring, and will go nowhere near replacing the funding lost from government cuts, especially for the most deprived communities.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf you look at the argument about business rates, the impact will be very detrimental for the poorest areas,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThose that benefit from business rates will be areas that are already quite affluent anyway. Those that will suffer will be the inner city councils \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the Manchesters, Liverpools and so on.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The same, Fiona notes, goes for allowing councils to raise council tax to pay for social care.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Liverpool city council has said that its annual social care bill stands at \u00c2\u0141172m a year, while a 2 per cent rise to council tax in the city would generate only \u00c2\u01413.2m.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis measure will be nowhere near enough to make up the difference, especially for councils where property prices are low,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Fiona said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fiona described the immense strain local authority staff are already under after five years of austerity. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe local government workforce is already the lowest paid<\/p>\n

across all the public sector,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAbout 25 per cent are paid below the Living Wage, and nearly one in eight rely on in-work benefits just to survive.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 A quarter of a million local authority jobs were shed over the last five years of austerity. But these job cuts are only the beginning, Fiona notes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re looking at thousands of job losses across the UK \u00e2\u20ac\u201c up to 6,000 in Birmingham, 3,000 in Glasgow, 2,000 in Edinburgh and so on,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe would say that local government is coming close to total collapse.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And for those local government workers who remain, Fiona notes they face worsened terms and conditions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c allowances, annual leave, overtime and mileage are all cut to the bone as austerity continues to bite.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As council staff suffer, so too, do those who use council services, many of whom are from the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most deprived communities.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite community coordinator for the southwest Brett Sparkes is on the frontlines of local authority cuts, and knows intimately the effect cuts have had on vulnerable communities.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Under threat<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Most recently, Brett and Unite members, along with the local community in Swindon, mounted a protest against closing children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s centres. Seven centres, which serve a large number of vulnerable children, were shut in April, with the council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s remaining five now under threat.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe services these centres offer are<\/p>\n

not available anywhere else,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Brett explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re absolutely vital in assisting young families. Especially in rural areas, young families will have nowhere else to go to for support.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Brett points to a Bristol respite centre as another example of the cuts\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 effect on local communities.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite Community spearheaded a day of action against cuts to beds at the respite centre, which provides short breaks for severely disabled children and vital support for their families.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThese examples are all part of a larger pattern we see in austerity Britain,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Brett added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bOver the last five years, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen a rise in homelessness as housing costs skyrocket, people suffering mental health problems not getting the help they need, people going hungry and living on the streets.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd it is council services that are there to support these people falling through the cracks,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Brett explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut now, if the latest cuts go through, all this support will be gone.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fiona agrees, adding that the cuts will not only cause immediate suffering among users and local authority staff, but will also actually add to public expenditure in the long-term.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf social care and services collapse, the onus then moves on to the NHS,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she notes. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s far more expensive for the elderly, the vulnerable and the infirm to be looked after by the NHS than it is by local government.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen already that leisure centres, libraries and youth services are being completely axed because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not seen as essential.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is a false economy, because if you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t invest in say youth services, then some other budget will have to pick up the costs and repercussions.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Another outcome of severe local authority cuts is the transformation of councils from providers of services to becoming the commissioners of services.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen councils become nothing more than facilitators of private contracts, services suffer because companies are beholden to shareholders, and not to the communities that they serve,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Brett explained.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Although dark days are ahead for local authorities, Brett believes there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still much that can be done locally to combat these cuts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bConservative councils are in league with the Tory government, adopting their mantra of cutting services to the bone, especially services that help the most vulnerable,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he commented.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bDespite central government cuts, councils still make decisions. As a community we can stand together and fight the cuts by challenging these local decisions.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This story first appeared in uniteWORKS magazine, January 2016. Unite members can sign up to receive the union’s award winning mag by\u00c2\u00a0changing your membership details here <\/a>to include receiving the mag.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Council services, including elderly care, children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s centres, parks and libraries, among other vital services, have suffered desperately under the weight of the previous government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spending cuts, which amounted to an \u00c2\u014118bn cull in real terms since 2010.   But local authorities\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pain is far from over, after the Chancellor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s autumn statement revealed they will continue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":952,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[76,461,104],"wps_subtitle":"Council cuts threaten us all","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7251"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7251"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7253,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7251\/revisions\/7253"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}