Swingeing and unkind cuts‏

The Daily Telegraph reports that public services across the country are being hit by unprecedented spending cuts as the Government bids to save £100 billion over the next two years. Dave Prentis, UNISON General Secretary, is quoted in the report: “the mounting toll of job cuts in local government and across the public sector, is already damaging local services and it is set to get worse.

"Essential services face swingeing cuts and we see day care centres, libraries, children’s homes and nurseries closing, or on the brink of closure, across the country.” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/6514812/Schools-hospitals-policing-and-councils-hit-as-Government-tries-to-save-100billion.html?

In her Public Finance blog Heather Wakefield, UNISON national secretary for local government, writes of a ‘relentless rise in council redundancies’ and reports on news ‘of a proposed end to facility time for many of UNISON lay representatives in Lancashire and Essex’.

The current epidemic of local authority budget cuts is contrasted with the ever mounting reserves generated by so called efficiency savings: ‘In the last three financial years English councils have added £262m (2006/07), £217m (2007/08) and £33m (2008/09) to their unallocated reserves. In the ten years since 1999, there have been huge increases of £1.3bn in schools reserves, £5.6bn in earmarked and £1.3 billion in unallocated reserves'.
http://opinion.publicfinance.co.uk/2009/11/unkind-cuts-by-heather-wakefield/