Somerset County Council cuts under attack by Unison

Members of the Unison  public sector union based in Taunton, crossed the road to County Hall on Friday, dressed as skeletons. It was part of the union's nationwide protest against cutbacks in public sector services but also a local attack on the statement made by Somerset County Council following the Government announcement.

Unison are accusing SCC of confusing the public with conflicting figures as their three year plan is "out of sync" with the Government's proposed four year plan.

County Council leader Ken Maddock said : "“We have spent months looking at how we can be more efficient, and where we can cut but also how we can protect frontline services wherever possible.

“There are things we really didn’t want to cutback on, but we just don’t have a choice. We already have a huge debt so borrowing more is not an option – each year we pay out £36m towards our debt.”

Some of the high profile proposed cuts include:

• Roads maintenance cut by £46m over three years;

• Youth services including closing youth clubs;

• Ten Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs);

• Reducing the County Ticket bus subsidy for students.

Other areas proposed for reductions include:

• Bus subsidies on key routes;

• School transport;

• Arts funding;

• Special Education Needs;

• Truancy officers;

• Road safety initiatives;

• Closing down eight out of 18 household recycling centres;

• Maintaining footpaths and rights of way.

Consultations with the public will also take place in key areas, including:Libraries – the public will be consulted about the impact of significant cuts to the library service that could see a number of closures. It will also include consultation with local communities and agencies to either help operate or take over some libraries entirely.

Adult social care – the public will be asked their views about the potential to change the current level of help offered to people with disabilities.

“We have protected what we can and these are very painful cuts for us to take,” said Cllr Maddock. “With the government taking more than a quarter of our funding, doing nothing just isn’t a choice for us. It’s not our doing, but it is our responsibility.( similar phrase used when he blamed the previous county council administration for the cuts )

"We have reduced bureaucracy and red tape wherever we can and protected our lowest paid staff as much as possible but let’s be clear, these proposals are not the end of the process but just the first round. There will be further, and deeper, cuts announced over the coming weeks and months.”

More than 700 staff could leave the council by April either through

voluntary or compulsory redundancies with a further 800 posts expected

to be lost over the next three years. Many of those remaining face

potential pay cuts, and less generous terms and conditions to save the

Council cash.

Unison say that the SCC statement is misleading and that the loss from the Government to the council spread over four years equates to only 14 percent of spending.

They want to see careful planning and avoidance of rushing to cuts and a race to the bottom with an aim for an organisation that is lean and good not lean and poor.

MP Jeremy Browne has stated on his website that he thinks the county have gone too far "What is causing real concern is the zeal of Somerset County Council to slash budgets way beyond what is required. Areas which have been ring-fenced or partially protected by central government are facing unnecessarily draconian cuts in Somerset."