The People’s Assembly Scotland has written to all group leaders in Scottish councils urging them to protect local services by challenging austerity. In return it has pledged to build a major campaign to support councillors prepared to make a stand.
It is asking councillors to set a no more cuts budget for 2017/18 along with a parallel or ‘citizens’ budget’ that outlines the real needs of local people and how they could best be met. It sets out a 15 point plan to protect and build services including using reserves, committing to an ethical care charter and abandoning privatisation (see below).
Some local authorities have already responded and agreed to meet People’s Assembly representatives.
Keith Stoddart, secretary of the People’s Assembly Scotland, said: “We appreciate these are tough times to be an elected member but it is more vital than ever that politicians take a stand on behalf of the many not the few. Councillors are there to provide political leadership not to be administrators and managers. The job of councillors who oppose austerity, be it from Westminster or Holyrood, is to demonstrate political leadership.
Phil McGarry, chair of the People’s Assembly Scotland, added: “We believe that anti austerity approach to the 2017/18 budget should be a precursor to an anti austerity progressive manifesto for the May 2017 elections.
“Locally delivered, accountable and financed public services as the essential basis on which a fairer and better society can be built. We believe that the public are increasingly seeing through the sham of needless austerity and that this is having a political impact.
“Local democracy has been systematically undermined through the council tax freeze, centralisation of policing and fire services, massive fettering of councils’ control over the school estate and centrally set teaching numbers. These compound earlier decisions taken in many authorities to go down the road of externalisation through stock transfers and the creation of arms length bodies.
“The latest attack threatens the removal of education from local authority control; we only have to look at the situation in England to see the dangers of removing education from council accountability.”
The letter reads:
Dear Group Leader
COUNCIL BUDGET 2017/18 AND ELECTION MANIFESTOS – SAY NO TO AUSTERITY CUTS
The People’s Assembly Scotland is a broad united national campaign against austerity, cuts and privatisation in our workplaces, communities and welfare services, based on general agreement with the signatories’ Founding Statement. We are not affiliated to any political party and are committed to open non-sectarian working and dedicated to supplementing, rather than supplanting, trade union, student, pensioner and community opposition to austerity measures.[i]
The People’s Assembly views locally delivered, accountable and financed public services as the essential basis on which a fairer and better society can be built. We believe that the public are increasingly seeing through the sham of needless austerity and that this is having a political impact. The Tories have recognised the futility of austerity with Chancellor Hammond jettisoning his predecessor’s economic targets and the SNP have also recognised the council tax freeze is unsustainable. The Scottish Labour Party’s message at the last Scottish election was they were an anti austerity party whilst the Scottish Green Party’s conference this year adopted a position of opposition to neoliberal capitalism. Yet day in day out our communities are diminished by council cuts, this has to stop now by councillors like you taking a stand.
Local democracy has been systematically undermined through the council tax freeze, centralisation of policing and fire services, massive fettering of councils’ control over the school estate and centrally set teaching numbers. These compound earlier decisions taken in many authorities to go down the road of externalisation through stock transfers and the creation of arms length bodies. The latest attack threatens the removal of education from local authority control; we only have to look at the situation in England to see the dangers of removing education from council accountability.
We appreciate these are tough times to be an elected member but it is more vital than ever that politicians take a stand on behalf of the many not the few. Councillors are there to provide political leadership not to be administrators and managers. The job of councillors who oppose austerity, be it from Westminster or Holyrood, is to demonstrate political leadership.
To all councillors who promote an anti austerity agenda we commit to building a grass roots movement to support those taking a stand. We call on you and your colleagues to bring forth a no more cuts budget for 2017/18, furthermore we call on you to publish a parallel or citizens budget that outlines the real needs of local people and how they could best be met. We believe that anti austerity approach to the 2017/18 budget should be a precursor to an anti austerity progressive manifesto for the May 2017 elections.
We believe an anti austerity strategy for your council should be based on a commitment to a public sector ethos, local democracy, ethical care and bottom up service design. Below we outline some of the elements of a progressive anti austerity strategy for your group to promote in your council:
• No compulsory redundancy agreements;
• Meaningful engagement and joint working with recognised trade unions, local Trade Union Councils and People’s Assemblies to campaign against austerity;
• No to externalisation and privatisation;
• Utilisation of reserves;
• More coherent and joined up national campaigning against Westminster and Scottish Government austerity;
• Signing up to and delivering on UNISON’s Ethical Care Charter[ii];
• Issuing of bonds to raise funds more cheaply (Aberdeen City Council have this under active consideration[iii]);
• Refinancing PFI and other debts (Northumbria NHS save £67 million[iv]);
• Campaigning for a debt amnesty for historic debt – Unite estimates that an incredible 44 pence of every £1 collected in council tax inScotland goes towards paying off debt. An amnesty for pre-devolution debt owed to the Treasury’s Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) could reduce that amount by around 10p in the £1, freeing up around £194 million a year to invest in cut-hit council services[v];
• No more austerity denial – be up front about cuts and the damage they are doing – label cuts ‘This service withdrawn due to austerity’;
• Produce parallel or citizens budgets illustrating the real need for services and the associated costs combined with local economic impact statements on both budgets;
• Genuine community engagement and consultation, no more tokenistic public consultations, stand beside groups facing the impact of the cuts;
• Pursuing a Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions approach to Israel. No to Eden Springs Water, Hewlett Packard etc and pension scheme investments in Occupied Territories[vi];
• Stop the language of customers, talk instead of citizens, residents, service users – the people;
• Promote working class and labour history and culture;
• Campaign to retain council responsibility and accountability for delivering education, including flexible early years public sector educational child care;
• Adopting positions of opposition to CETA, TTIP and other such unfair trade deals (Fife Council already has[vii]);
• Establishing an energy company that generate renewable electricity and helping households to install energy efficiency measures funded from the long-term savings in their energy bills.
The People’s Assembly, trade unions and any many in our community stand ready to support councillors and groups who take a stand against austerity. As we approach next year’s council elections it is time for a bold re-envisioning of the role of local government. Councillors come forward to make things better for their community not to pass damaging cuts, now is the time to take a stand and join with us in building an alternative to austerity. If you do you have our commitment to help build grass roots support for your group taking a stand.
Pleaser regard this as a submission to any formal budget consultation exercise the Council has underway. A delegation of People’s Assembly supporters would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss this further.
Yours sincerely
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