Bitter Ashes
17th September 2009, 06:21
http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/local-west-yorkshire-news/2009/09/16/hundreds-of-kirklees-council-workers-to-lose-their-jobs-86081-24699764/
Sep 16 2009 (http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/local-west-yorkshire-news/2009/09/16/) by Barry Gibson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner
HUNDREDS of council workers will lose their jobs as Kirklees seeks vast savings.
The Examiner can reveal today that plans are to be drawn up to cut at least £250m over five years.
Kirklees Council will slash its budget by a fifth to deal with the public spending squeeze which is expected after the General Election.
The news comes as Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced for the first time yesterday that there would have to spending cuts.
Kirklees director of human resources Cliff Stewart warned yesterday that some of the council’s 11,000 workers would have to go.
He said: “There will be significant staff reductions – many hundreds of jobs.”
But he added: “We will move heaven and earth to avoid compulsory redundancies.”
The move will see a massive review of how all council services except education are managed and run – including senior management posts.
And Mr Stewart admitted that many workers would be worried at the news that cuts are on the way.
He said: “We recognise it’s not just the staff, it’s their families who will be worried as well. This will affect more than 30,000 people when the staff’s families are also taken into consideration. We will do this in a measured way.”
Mr Stewart said the cuts would effect “back office” staff in departments like administration, finance and human relations rather than front-line workers such as binmen and home helps.
He said: “The whole organisation has to become more efficient to improve services to the public.”
The cuts will run from 2010/11 to 2014/15. Kirklees currently spends £1.1bn a year. By 2014/15 this figure is expected to stand at £900m.
Mr Stewart said: “It’s a minimum of £250m over five years.”
The cuts will not affect the ring-fenced education budget of around £250m a year or the 8,000 schools staff.
However, the council’s annual net revenue spend – which includes non-school staff wages – will have to drop by a fifth from £350m to £280m. This will mean reductions in the number of non-school staff on the council payroll which currently stands at 11,000. Mr Stewart believes the cuts are necessary because the Government will reduce its grants to councils in the next few years to deal with the deficit in public finances.
“There are so many clear signals coming from Westminster,’’ he said. “This will happen regardless of who wins the next election. Some councils in the region believe they will get away with a standstill budget, but we think they’re losing a year of planning.”
Council officers began drawing up plans for the Innovation and Efficiency programme last month.
Mr Stewart confirmed: “We are going to use an external advisor but they will be advising us rather than leading the process. We’re procuring at the moment and we don’t know how much we will spend on this.”
The analysis is due to be finished by Christmas. Councillors will then debate the plan which is expected to begin in June 2010.Mr Stewart believes that reducing the number of hours staff work will not provide enough savings.
He said: “There have been a number of suggestions like staff taking sabbaticals, deferring payment or switching from a 37-hour week to 35 hours. We have looked at these and decided they are not the way forward. These are not permanent changes – all they do is buy a bit of time.”
Mr Stewart said selling council buildings was not an option either.
“This is a bad time to sell property but we will be looking at how we use our buildings,” he said.
Councillors’ pay and expenses will be part of the review but Kirklees grants to organisations like the Lawrence Batley Theatre are not part of the efficiency programme.
Queensgate Revival – the council’s major development plan for Huddersfield town centre – has already been put on ice because of a lack of private sector investment.
Kirklees is working with public sector unions on the cuts programme.
Mr Stewart said: “Our view and the view of the unions is that this is too big a deal for us not to work together.”
Mr Stewart added that the council was having to deal with other budget pressures.
He said: “There has been an increase in the number of looked-after children, older people and youngsters with learning difficulties. More businesses are empty which means we’re taking in less in rates. Fewer homes are being built which means we’re not taking in as much in council tax and planning fees.
“There is tremendous pressure on the budget, never mind any cut in our grant from central Government.”
The leaders of the council’s four political parties – Labour, the Conservatives, the Lib Dems and the Greens – are expected to issue a joint statement on the cuts plan later today.
Click here to send a message to the Examiner with your views on the proposals. (http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/send-a-video-story-picture/)
How Kirklees Council’s Innovation and Efficiency programme will span out
Now until Christmas: Council officers draw up report suggesting areas where cuts can be made
January to June 2010: Councillors debate the proposals and come to final decisions
June 2010: Innovation and Efficiency programme gets underway
June 2012: Programme finishes
Read the full Kirklees Council statement here (http://tmgcms3.tm-gnet.com/huddexaminer/news/local-west-yorkshire-news/2009/09/16/the-kirklees-council-statement-in-full-86081-24699763/)And the council cuts have hit my little town it seems.
It's worth pointing out that even after the recession had begun, the council had decieded to take on several multi-million projects to pretty the town up. The most controversial of which is the redesign of the front of Huddersfield Rail Station. The area had been renovated to include a new roundabout only about 2-3 years ago, which took months of work and now it's all been teared down again to make way for a stone slab square, including a horrendously overpriced fountain at the bottom. The fountain alone has been said to cost £50k a year to maintain, which would be at least fair pay for 3 of those workers.
http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/local-west-yorkshire-news/2009/06/11/fountain-work-under-way-in-st-george-s-square-revamp-86081-23841062/
Barry Sheerman our local entrenched Labourite MP has nodded his head approvingly and said that workers should pay the price for his party's fuckups (whilst strongly denying that Labour was to blame!).
http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/local-west-yorkshire-news/2009/09/16/mps-react-to-kirklees-council-cuts-86081-24699762/
Anyone in the Kirklees area who would like to work together organising, please get in touch.
Sep 16 2009 (http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/local-west-yorkshire-news/2009/09/16/) by Barry Gibson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner
HUNDREDS of council workers will lose their jobs as Kirklees seeks vast savings.
The Examiner can reveal today that plans are to be drawn up to cut at least £250m over five years.
Kirklees Council will slash its budget by a fifth to deal with the public spending squeeze which is expected after the General Election.
The news comes as Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced for the first time yesterday that there would have to spending cuts.
Kirklees director of human resources Cliff Stewart warned yesterday that some of the council’s 11,000 workers would have to go.
He said: “There will be significant staff reductions – many hundreds of jobs.”
But he added: “We will move heaven and earth to avoid compulsory redundancies.”
The move will see a massive review of how all council services except education are managed and run – including senior management posts.
And Mr Stewart admitted that many workers would be worried at the news that cuts are on the way.
He said: “We recognise it’s not just the staff, it’s their families who will be worried as well. This will affect more than 30,000 people when the staff’s families are also taken into consideration. We will do this in a measured way.”
Mr Stewart said the cuts would effect “back office” staff in departments like administration, finance and human relations rather than front-line workers such as binmen and home helps.
He said: “The whole organisation has to become more efficient to improve services to the public.”
The cuts will run from 2010/11 to 2014/15. Kirklees currently spends £1.1bn a year. By 2014/15 this figure is expected to stand at £900m.
Mr Stewart said: “It’s a minimum of £250m over five years.”
The cuts will not affect the ring-fenced education budget of around £250m a year or the 8,000 schools staff.
However, the council’s annual net revenue spend – which includes non-school staff wages – will have to drop by a fifth from £350m to £280m. This will mean reductions in the number of non-school staff on the council payroll which currently stands at 11,000. Mr Stewart believes the cuts are necessary because the Government will reduce its grants to councils in the next few years to deal with the deficit in public finances.
“There are so many clear signals coming from Westminster,’’ he said. “This will happen regardless of who wins the next election. Some councils in the region believe they will get away with a standstill budget, but we think they’re losing a year of planning.”
Council officers began drawing up plans for the Innovation and Efficiency programme last month.
Mr Stewart confirmed: “We are going to use an external advisor but they will be advising us rather than leading the process. We’re procuring at the moment and we don’t know how much we will spend on this.”
The analysis is due to be finished by Christmas. Councillors will then debate the plan which is expected to begin in June 2010.Mr Stewart believes that reducing the number of hours staff work will not provide enough savings.
He said: “There have been a number of suggestions like staff taking sabbaticals, deferring payment or switching from a 37-hour week to 35 hours. We have looked at these and decided they are not the way forward. These are not permanent changes – all they do is buy a bit of time.”
Mr Stewart said selling council buildings was not an option either.
“This is a bad time to sell property but we will be looking at how we use our buildings,” he said.
Councillors’ pay and expenses will be part of the review but Kirklees grants to organisations like the Lawrence Batley Theatre are not part of the efficiency programme.
Queensgate Revival – the council’s major development plan for Huddersfield town centre – has already been put on ice because of a lack of private sector investment.
Kirklees is working with public sector unions on the cuts programme.
Mr Stewart said: “Our view and the view of the unions is that this is too big a deal for us not to work together.”
Mr Stewart added that the council was having to deal with other budget pressures.
He said: “There has been an increase in the number of looked-after children, older people and youngsters with learning difficulties. More businesses are empty which means we’re taking in less in rates. Fewer homes are being built which means we’re not taking in as much in council tax and planning fees.
“There is tremendous pressure on the budget, never mind any cut in our grant from central Government.”
The leaders of the council’s four political parties – Labour, the Conservatives, the Lib Dems and the Greens – are expected to issue a joint statement on the cuts plan later today.
Click here to send a message to the Examiner with your views on the proposals. (http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/send-a-video-story-picture/)
How Kirklees Council’s Innovation and Efficiency programme will span out
Now until Christmas: Council officers draw up report suggesting areas where cuts can be made
January to June 2010: Councillors debate the proposals and come to final decisions
June 2010: Innovation and Efficiency programme gets underway
June 2012: Programme finishes
Read the full Kirklees Council statement here (http://tmgcms3.tm-gnet.com/huddexaminer/news/local-west-yorkshire-news/2009/09/16/the-kirklees-council-statement-in-full-86081-24699763/)And the council cuts have hit my little town it seems.
It's worth pointing out that even after the recession had begun, the council had decieded to take on several multi-million projects to pretty the town up. The most controversial of which is the redesign of the front of Huddersfield Rail Station. The area had been renovated to include a new roundabout only about 2-3 years ago, which took months of work and now it's all been teared down again to make way for a stone slab square, including a horrendously overpriced fountain at the bottom. The fountain alone has been said to cost £50k a year to maintain, which would be at least fair pay for 3 of those workers.
http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/local-west-yorkshire-news/2009/06/11/fountain-work-under-way-in-st-george-s-square-revamp-86081-23841062/
Barry Sheerman our local entrenched Labourite MP has nodded his head approvingly and said that workers should pay the price for his party's fuckups (whilst strongly denying that Labour was to blame!).
http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/local-west-yorkshire-news/2009/09/16/mps-react-to-kirklees-council-cuts-86081-24699762/
Anyone in the Kirklees area who would like to work together organising, please get in touch.