East Lothian Council Branch
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East Lothian Council UNISON
Block A Brewery Park
Haddington
East Lothian
EH41 3HA
Telephone: 01620 822699
Speaking for over
a million public
service workers
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EAST LOTHIAN COUNCIL BUDGET PROPOSALS 2010-2013
COMMUNITY CONSULTATION PAPER - SPENDING CHOICES
In an ELnet global special email message issued on 20 October 2009 there is a link to a document on the proposed East Lothian Council Budget 2010-2013 "Community Consultation Paper - Spending Choices" called Budget Consultation.
This sets out what the Council currently spends its money on, where its money comes from and what the UK and Scottish Budgets in 2009 mean for the future of East Lothian Council.
There are tables showing "working plans to realise opportunities to work smarter and reduce costs" and these could affect services and service users.
Areas the Council are looking at are
" replacing nursery school teachers with nursery nurses,
" reducing schools' staffing,
" reducing adult social care staffing through vacancy managing,
" redesigning key service areas in Adult Social Care,
" outsourcing a higher proportion of domiciliary care services,
" outsourcing provision of Council provided care homes
" sharing services (with other councils) and service reduction
" reducing roads maintenance including winter maintenance
" expansion of opening hours of (main town) libraries and closure of smaller libraries
Express you view on the above by sending any comments by letter or email to
You Pay…Have Your Say
East Lothian Council
Haddington
EH41 3HA
Email: youpayhaveyoursay@eastlothian.gov.uk
"Managing Costs Down - New Corporate Initiatives"
Budget Statement
East Lothian UNISON recognises that in the current financial climate efficiencies have to be made. However we are opposed to any further cuts to essential front line services provided to the most vulnerable members of our community who use Adult Social Care services. These are the least able to speak up for themselves and need the first class services provided by our members.
Our children in schools are our future and we should be investing in services for them, not contemplating a reduction.
East Lothian Council staff are already fully stretched and working under difficult circumstances. Any cuts to staff providing essential services will be detrimental to the whole community we serve.
YOU PAY - HAVE YOUR SAY
We highlighted several main areas of concern, as follows:-
1. We are disappointed that the area of Adult Social Care seems to be a prime target for cuts. This section of the population is the most vulnerable and deserves the excellent services our dedicated members provide to them. Services for this group are mentioned several times in the discussion paper and in the material available in the workshop sessions. Any cut to daytime facilities for this group will have a knock-on effect on the health of their carers who are able to get a brief respite from 24-hour care that many provide to their family dependants. Should these services be withdrawn, the Council will face additional expenditure if overworked carers cannot cope, and their dependants require to be taken into full-time care. Surely this expensive option is not what the Council wants.
2. On the question of replacing nursery teachers with nursery nurses, we would be looking for an assurance that nursery nurses were properly compensated for the additional responsibilities they would take on, and not be expected to take on extra responsibility on their current grades.
3. We are appalled at the number of agency workers used across all areas of the Council, at huge cost. We believe that a policy should be in place to limit agency workers' period of employment to be no more than six weeks. Further, we would ask that the Council provide a breakdown of the cost of employing these staff so that managers are made aware of the costs across all the services.
4. On the outsourcing of services to private contractors - we are all aware of the catastrophic results of privatising cleaning services within the NHS, and the enormous rates of infection that have resulted. Private firms exist to make profits for their shareholders, not to improve services for the public. Our staff are highly trained to provide a public service and provide first class services to the community of East Lothian, and are not in the business of lining shareholders' pockets. We would strongly urge you not to go down the route of privatisation of our services.
5. On the proposed closure of public libraries, our small branch libraries are the lifeblood of these communities and are widely used for IT purposes as well as borrowing of CDs and periodicals and traditional book borrowing. Our librarians do a great service in introducing children to the world of books through story time and play sessions, and this would be lost to our smaller rural areas where children already do not have the same leisure opportunities as in the larger towns.
6. We appreciate that there is not always a permanent desk needed for some members of staff. Flexible and home working should be supported by management, unlike the current position, where it is treated with suspicion.
It may be that one building within Haddington could be defined as a "hot desking" area, where staff could still have access to management as and when necessary. There are existing buildings, eg Haddington Town House, that are underused and could be used in this way.
7. Lastly, would councillors not prefer to work from home, with some meeting space available in John Muir House, rather than have office space which could be freed up for other purposes? This could be seen as the Councillors clearly leading by example for management to follow, and would show the East Lothian public that Councilors themselves are determined to make savings.
Budget Response from Branch
Feb 6 - Dave Prentis launches the campaign
UNISON’s General Secretary, Dave Prentis, has launched our major Public Works campaign, fighting back against cuts in public
services. Speaking at the rally in Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, he attacked all political parties’ ‘Macho
Politics’ and announced that the union’s research has uncovered cuts of £300m across Scottish local government
with a planned job loss of over 3,000.* “No school cleaner gambled billions on the stock exchange.”
He said, “None of our members created this recession. Why should they have to pay for it?”
Dave also pointed to the danger of cuts plunging the economy back into recession as public spending is the
only engine of growth we have. “Spending on public services makes sense if you are trying to grow the
economy. “ He said, “for every pound spent on public services, 64p goes back into the local economy.”
Dave made it clear that all the major parties were to blame in a rush to the bottom, but reserved particular criticism for David
Cameron’s Tories who, he said, hadn’t changed
“They are calling for savage cuts - using the crisis to dismantle the welfare state. 20% cut in public expenditure over two years,
but tax cuts for the rich … a world of haves and have nots.” He also urged Gordon Brown to learn from President Barack Obama’s
decision to stand up to American bankers.
“Lets hear more about pay freezes for bankers,” He said. “Lets hear Gordon calling for every last dime to be paid back
to the taxpayer.”
Get the up-to-date info
*A new briefing is on the website, http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/briefings/222%20BudgetCuts.pdf
giving the real facts and figures about the cuts across Scotland. This has been compiled from your Cuts
Impact Assessment returns (for which, thank you), and is the most comprehensive survey since this
budget. Even so it is not yet fully comprehensive. Most information is in the area of local government
while other service sectors are less well covered—but information on health, higher education, police,
NDPBs, and the voluntary sector etc, is beginning to add to the figures.
Importantly information on the impact of recession on our comrades in the private service sector is also
coming in, and this shows similar job loss and cuts as in the public sector. When these are included we
are looking at a total cut of £466.3m with at least 4,504 jobs going. These figures will no doubt increase.
… and keep it up-to-date
We need you and your Regional Organiser to keep your Cuts Impact Assessments up to
date, and returned to Fiona Montgomery – f.montgomery@unison.co.uk .We need this information
to keep us informed on how cuts affect jobs and services. The form is designed
to be updated and new information will be sought soon.
March & Rally called for April 10
UNISON has agreed to organise a march and rally in Glasgow on 10 April to demonstrate to our politicians
the level of opposition to the cuts
We need you to be there and to encourage turn outs from:
- Your members and their families– get the best turn out possible. UNISON will be arranging
events for the kids, so bring them along too!
- Any user or community groups who you are working with to fight cuts in your authority.
Bring your Branch Banners and Placards – make it clear UNISON is leading this campaign.
Member’s leaflets will be available for downloading soon, along with postcards to use in
local campaigning. A toolkit, with advice and information on campaigning and political lobbying is
February 2010
