Council cuts consultation gathers pace

Jul 8 2010 by Alistair Watson, West Lothian Courier

THE next stage in the biggest public consultation process ever to take place in West Lothian gathers pace this week.

The first in a series of special Policy Development and Scrutiny Panels will start on Friday that will allow the public and community groups to have their say on officer-led proposals, which were outlined in the Tough Choices booklet.

The 231-page document issued by West Lothian Council contains detailed proposals from the local authority about how they plan to save £45million over the next three years.

The council are set to slash services and around 1000 jobs over the next three years as they face up to a potential 12 per cent reduction in real terms in the money they receive from the Scottish Government.

Residents could also face the removal of subsidies and new charges for council services and facilities such as sports and town centre car parks.

The original closing date for submissions from the public on the proposals was June 30 but this has been extended until eight days prior to the date of the appropriate PDSP meeting.

Council Leader Peter Johnston said: “To ensure that discussions at the PDSPs are as inclusive as possible, representatives from a wide range of groups have been invited to take up places at each PDSP meeting.

“The Senior People’s Forum, the Youth Congress, community councils, including The West Lothian Association of Community Councils, the voluntary sector and trade unions will all be represented.”

However the joint trade unions, who represent a large number of workers in the council, said in their response to the Tough Choices document that they were disappointed that a number of the council’s proposals will affect the most vulnerable service users in West Lothian. “For example the proposals include the proposed closure of two homes for older people, day care for the elderly, a reduction in services for those with mental health problems and learning disabilities, and the increased privatisation of domiciliary care services,” chair Jane Ridgway said.

“Many of the council’s low income employees also rely on its services so will be hit twice over.

“The joint trade unions between them represent staff in all service areas of the council therefore we will not prioritise one group of staff or one service area over another.

“The unions believe that every effort must be made to achieve efficiencies without resorting to compulsory redundancies or overburdening the remaining staff with unrealistic workloads.

“Senior managers and elected members must make it clear to the public than less money in the budget means fewer staff delivering fewer services to fewer people.”

They also outlined ways they believed the council could save money including concentrating on frontline service delivery rather that the emphasis placed on winning awards; removing the necessity for council uniforms for some staff; and cancelling all departmental “away days”.

Jane added: “The trade unions are also willing to discuss in more detail the ‘Worksmart’ proposals in an attempt to reduce the council’s overheads. A member of the JTUC will attend future PDSPs to ensure that our members’ views are represented.”