Somerset Labour

“Nobody comes into politics to make decisions like this” said Tory County Leader Cllr David Fothergill, as he announced massive cutbacks in services and jobs, admitting “but local government’s continuous lobbying for more funding simply hasn’t been heard”. Cllr Fothergill also accepted that despite making £130m of ‘savings’ over the last eight years, the authority had now reached the “very sharp end” of continued austerity. “Local authorities have to deliver a balanced budget, but the funding we receive falls far short of the cost of the services we provide and that has to have an impact. We’ve tried hard to avoid this, looked at every option open to us in terms of financial flexibility, but have been left with no choice. These proposals will be hard to deliver and difficult to stomach for anyone who works for or with this authority. This is the very sharp end of austerity, but the consequences of not taking this action, of not bringing ourselves to financial sustainability, would be even harder on our residents and that has to be avoided.”

Continue reading “130 Jobs could go as Somerset Tories announce massive cuts at County”

Somerset County Council Labour leader Cllr Leigh Redman (Bridgwater South)  has launched a major attack on the years of Tory control as 130 jobs are threatened asking ‘Why are we in this position?’ and ‘How do we get out of this hole?’ The full text of his speech is below.

“What a way for our staff to start a bank holiday weekend! “Following a week of rumours and gossip around the financial position the council finds itself in, as members of staff started to leave work for the bank holiday weekend they all received an email outlining a summary of areas where savings proposals are being developed for consideration by Cabinet on Wednesday, September 12.

“The first thing that hit me when I read the list, was whatever the justification, how wrong these further cuts are, and how the list appeared to impact hardest, those most vulnerable amongst us, the ones that need our help most.

“The outcomes from these short lines are not very clear, it is purely an indicative list that needs to be explained fully before the meeting, where the Tory cabinet will take the decisions. Continue reading “Labour Leader Blames County Tories for Financial Crisis”

Does anyone really know or understand what is happening to our NHS in Somerset? asks County Labour Leader Cllr Leigh Redman (Bridgwater South)

Let’s start with what we know, Staff are frustrated.

Why are staff frustrated? One answer is outsourcing, this comes in a few guises, one is termed “wholly owned subsidiary companies”, such as the Symphony and Simply Serve, recently 350 staff were TUPE transferred into Simply serve, this new NHS owned company, Staff have seen in the past the potential for the new employer to instigate their own organisational change. Staff then find themselves at risk of inferior T&C’s and lower pay rates. Outsourcing constitutes a breakup of the “one team” ethos of the NHS. Unions work hard along with staff to promote the value of teamwork. The cleaning staff, porters, catering staff are as valuable as the clinical and managerial staff. One without the other results in a chaotic service. Continue reading “‘Does anyone understand what is happening to our NHS in Somerset?’ asks Labour Leader”