Day: December 18, 2014

Community groups unite to oppose council cuts

Community groups, local organisations and concerned individuals have united to protest against imminent council cuts. The say the council’s budget proposals will hit the poorest people hardest and have written to local councillors urging them to support the fight against slashing local services.

Last week’s hastily convened meeting at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre was organised by Women’s International Group and was attended by more than  twenty local people – community councillors, management committee members, health service workers and local staff were all there. No councillors were present at the meeting.

WIG’s Anna Hutchison explained that the Women’s International Group had attended a Budget Challenge meeting and were unhappy about the way the consultation exercise was conducted – no-one attended to explain what was being proposed or to answer questions, and the Challenge was being presented as a fait accompli – ‘these are your only options’.

The group also felt it was wrong that local people were being asked to take part in a process to cut services that would pit one area or service off against another, so decided to call a public meeting to gauge the views of the wider community.

“It’s not for us to do the councillors’ work for them”, she said. “We elect councillors to set budgets and run the city. We expect them to listen to us and to protect our precious local services.”

The Council faces a considerable budget challenge.  Between 2015 and 2018, the Council’s annual budget will remain around £950 million but the council expects the cost of providing services to be £1.01 billion.

The council says it must make savings of £67 million over the next three years ‘to make sure we can provide the services that are important to the people of Edinburgh’.

Granton and District community councillor Dave Macnab told the meeting: “I’ve been struck by the fact that this budget consultation is almost like a game of Monopoly – except this time you are dealing with real people and real services. This is no game and I think people are sleepwalking into this process. What these abstract proposals mean in reality is cuts on an unimaginable scale”.

He went on: “I am quite disturbed – officials seem to be accepting that this is the way it must be. I would ask: what happens if we say ‘NO’?”

West Granton West Pilton community councillor Willie Black said that recent problems of antisocial behaviour in the area could be traced directly to poverty and unemployment – and that austerity measures, slashed budgets and cuts in local services would make an already bad situation much worse.

He also questioned the council’s figures, suggesting that the scale of cuts is much deeper – not £67 million but £142 million over the next three years.

Willie Black said it was vital that communities combined to fight the cuts being imposed upon them – ‘cuts that are being inflicted on us through no fault of our own, and yet the poor are the people who get the blame’. He said: “Alliances are being formed – we’ve got to put all our energies into a collective effort to challenge these cuts.

“And we’ve got to ask the councillors: in the war against the poor, where do you stand?”

The meeting was then thrown open for debate and discussion. Among the points raised during a passionate and enthusiastic session:

• It is unclear what the £67 m in the Council’s budget leaflet represents. It looks like the savings to be made over 3 years is significantly higher than £67m – this needs to be clarified.
• There are a number of headings in the Council’s budget paper termed ‘Other’. These sections involve huge sums of money but  there is no explanation as to what this relates to.  This needs to be broken down so that we can see what it includes.
• The savings identified  are very confusing – it isn’t  clear what they relate to – this should  be explained better in a way that lay people can understand
• It is impossible to make an informed decision based on this information
• The language used excludes people – it is gobbledygook!
• The language used attempts to disguise the fact that ‘savings’ are actually cuts – people need to be aware of this.
• The Council are asking the citizens of Edinburgh to approve their cuts – this is not
• It is disgusting that elected members are not here – they always have  excuses for not turning up to important local meetings.  Councillors are elected to represent their constituents – we vote for them to do a job  on our behalf and  they get paid to do it.
• Communities are being expected to identify which services they want to cut – this is unacceptable
• The consultation is a sham – the decisions have already been made. The same thing happened with the consultation on the  closure of Royston Primary School – they didn’t listen to the community then.  The facts  they presented to local people were proved to be complete nonsense.  Can we trust them on the figures we have been presented with this time round?
• Councillors and senior officials never put their hands up and admit their mistakes (ie the trams, Royston Primary School, Craigroyston High School)
• Community councillors are sent huge amounts of information from the Council – it is impossible to read through it all and often to understand because of the language used.  This  makes it very difficult for community councillors to present this  information in a meaningful way to the wider community
• The Council has already sub-contracted services out to private firms (someone  received a letter re their single person discount – it was sent from a firm in Derbyshire).  This is privatisation by the back door
• It is accepted that the Council needs more cash to fund local services and that  the council tax freeze isn’t helping the situation.   The Council tax needs to be changed to make it more progressive so that  the  better off  pay more.
• We are constantly told that events like the Festival and the Hogmanay celebrations are a good investment as they bring extra cash into the city but we never actually see the figures  and we don’t see the benefits in our communities.  This income should be audited and it should be set aside for local services.  There needs to be better transparency in the Council’s financial systems.
• Education should be a priority – libraries and community centres are often a starting point for learning – they provide safe spaces in the community for children, young people and adults
• Libraries and community centres are fantastic local facilities and provide a great service to all the community.
• CLD workers are an important resource in local communities.
• If jobs go it won’t be the folk who are high up the tree who go
• There have been many examples of serious mismanagement at the Council – the trams project is only   The Council are now considering extending the tram line to Leith and paying for another feasibility study.  This is a  complete waste of public money.  Edinburgh has become a laughing-stock around the world because of this fiasco.
• Many local organisations refused to display the leaflet publicising this meeting because they said it was political. Some workers are worried that the  Council will cut their grants if they are seen to be publicising this kind of event.   This position needs to be clarified by the Council.

Impact of cuts

• Cuts in local services will result in more crime and anti-social behaviour – this is a false economy as it costs more money to deal with the consequences of crime.
• Services for children and young people helps to keep them away from crime – it is more effective to prevent problems from happening in the first place. Cuts in funding to projects who work with hard to reach young people will be a disaster for  young people and the wider community.   Youth projects are trying to build trust and relationships with  young people which can help to steer them away from crime.
• Many  kids haven’t had a chance in life.  Services such as Panmuir House are the last chance saloon for kids who do get into trouble.  Close it down and then what happens?
• Cuts in services and closures will affect the health and well-being of local people – research shows that going to libraries and museums, taking part in groups and activities improves health – cuts in services will result in more illness and will put more pressure on the system
• Cuts in jobs means public sector workers are being asked to take on more responsibilities – this puts people under stress and  can lead to them going off sick.  They then get  pulled up  by management and put under more pressure to return to work  – this adds to the stress factor.
• Workers in the public sector are scared to go off sick these days despite the fact that they have valid sick lines– there has been a change in management culture in public services in recent years  (examples given about situation in the NHS)
• The next generation in this community will end up even more disadvantaged because of the impact of the cuts
• People are already struggling without more cuts to basic services. Many people  do not have enough to survive on once the bills are paid.  Benefit sanctions are being used  to penalize people for minor things (being late for an interview).  People are having to go without money and  food and having to rely on food banks and support from local services.
• High levels of unemployment and poverty in the past resulted in an increase in crime and anti-social behaviour.  Many people moved out of the area and this had a negative affect on  the people who were left.  This is likely to happen again if we don’t have services in place to support people.

 The meeting came up with a number of ideas about what the council could do to address budget difficulties:

• Introduce a ‘tourist tax’ to bring cash into the city –  this could be used to subsidise local services
• Introduce a hotel levy during the Festival and the Christmas and New Year Celebrations
• Raise the council tax – the Council has the power to do this.  They will need to ensure that this does not  penalize poorer people.
• Reduce expenditure on things like taxi-fares, council lunches, official visits abroad and the like – this is unnecessary expenditure.
• Find other ways of making savings that don’t involve cutting services or sacking workers who provide front line services
• Dig out the last feasibility study on extending the tram line to Leith – this will save £1/2m.

 The meeting agreed to write to local politicians and to forge links with other groups across the city. The North Edinburgh anti-cuts campaigners also plan to meet early in the New Year to discuss sending a deputation to the city council’s budget meeting in February.

If you want to have your say:

Take the budget challenge

But hurry – last day for submissions is tomorrow

Friday 19 December

Background reports:

Budget_proposals_2015_2016_updated_28.10.14

Item_7.3___2015_18_Revenue_and_Capital_Budget_Framework