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Protesters outside the Town Hall last night (Wednesday) |
Protesters say ‘No’ to cuts
Town Hall sees first salvo in battle over services, jobs and the council tax
COUNCIL workers stood up against the Town Hall’s controversial cuts programme last night (Wednesday) with a mass protest and a clear message: ‘We won’t let it happen’.
In its biggest test since sweeping to power in May, the Liberal Democrat and Conservative coalition was forced to defend plans to slash more than 250 jobs and to close or reduce a raft of services.
The cuts – or “workforce remodelling” – are being mapped out as part of the coaltion’s pledge to freeze council tax next year. Charges for other council services, such as meals on wheels for the elderly, will also be hiked.
With temperatures running high, hundreds of council employees, union members and community groups flooded the Town Hall’s front steps ahead of last night’s (Wednesday’s) cabinet meeting.
Senior councillors entered by side doors to avoid the placards.
Inside the Town Hall chamber, they showed little sign of wavering from budget plans aimed at making £17-million worth of savings and dressed up under a ‘Better and Cheaper’ banner.
Conservative leader Councillor Andrew Marshall said: “We have been told that it is unnecessary (by unions). If it was unnecessary then the consequence would be other savings or a significant rise in council tax which I don’t think people voted for.”
He added: “I don’t think anyone under estimates the effect on staff. But we have to balance the interest of residents and staff and I think we are on the right track for that.”
Liberal Democrat treasurer Cllr Janet Grauberg said: “We are on track for no increase in Camden’s share of council tax next year. It demonstrates our commitment to make every pound of public money pull its weight. We looked for places where the council could be more efficient in what it is doing.
“Our focus has been on taking out management layers and reducing the number of agency staff and consultants.”
The coalition insists that it is just cutting away the fat in a budget that, it claims, swelled during the Labour administration.
But the budget is putting the coalition in direct confrontation with a campaign that is beginning to unite people from all parts of Camden, from back office workers at the Town Hall to teachers in the borough’s schools.
Unison has promised to organise a united campaign by bringing together all affected groups.
Speaking on a megaphone, David Eggmore, the union’s branch secretary, said: “This is not the end. This is the start. If we let them get away with it now, they will keep on getting away with it.
“They are suggesting five per cent in employment savings this year. They are suggesting five per cent next year and the year after that. This won’t go away.”
George Binette, a Unison convenor, warned that cuts would hit hard in the language and welfare services currently provided by the council.
He said: “I have friends and colleagues that are at risk of losing their jobs. I don’t see the chief executive taking a pay cut. I don’t see senior officers taking a pay cut. I don’t see executive councillors handing back their expenses.”
Labour leader Councillor Anna Stewart said: “It is disingenuous to suggest that this (the budgets) isn’t going to affect front line services.
“The fact that some of the most affected will be vulnerable members in Camden are hard to deny. We know that Camden is an excellent authority in which we all have an enormous amount to be proud of – but most of our achievements are built on the hard work and dedication of our council staff.
“All that is going to be undermined.” The cabinet will meet again next year and agree a final budget in February. |
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