Embargo: For Immediate Release June 24th, 2010
WARNING OVER IMPACT ON LOCAL ECONOMIES
The budget is devastating news for all those who work for Wokingham Borough Council and indeed for local government throughout Berkshire. Freezing council tax is regressive and will blow a hole in local authority budgets. The announcement of a two year pay freeze for all public sector workers earning over £21,000 is essentially a pay cut especially with the RPI inflation rate at around 5%. With increases in taxation and VAT, this will make it even harder for employees and their families to survive in this harsh economic climate.
Paul Bee, the UNISON Wokingham District Branch Secretary states that:
We recognise the need for savings to be made. However, reductions in government grants, freezing council tax, and forcing a two year pay freeze on public sector workers may well have major implications for jobs and how that could impact on the local economy. Job cuts and forcing workers to survive on less money means that they will have less money to spend in local shops, hair dressers and restaurants. It is well known that for every £1 invested in local government via pay and procurement, means that an additional 64 pence is invested in the local economy. Many local businesses, too, rely on contracts from the public sector for their livelihoods. Without this vital cash injection, local economies throughout Berkshire may well be devastated.
UNISON does have alternative budget proposals which would help make similar savings but would be much fairer than the government’s budget. Our recommendations are:
£4.7bn could be raised every year by introducing a 50% tax rate on incomes over £100,000
£10bn could be raised every year by reforming tax havens and residence rules to reduce tax avoidance by corporations and ‘non-domiciled’ residents
£14.9bn could be raised every year by using minimum tax rates to stop reliefs being used disproportionately subsidise incomes over £100,000
£30bn could be raised every year by introducing a Major Financial Transactions Tax on UK financial institutions – the Robin Hood Tax
At least £1.5bn could be raised this year by bringing back the windfall tax on bankers’ bonuses.
£4bn could be saved this year by cancelling Trident, the project could cost as much as £100bn.
£500m could be saved every year by eradicating healthcare acquired infections from the NHS – the extra cleaners would cost half this.
£495m could be saved every year by adopting measures to improve the health and well-being of NHS staff, thereby reducing sickness absence
£1bn could be saved every year by halving the local government agency bill, as has been achieved by high performing councils
£5bn could be raised every year with an Empty Property Tax on vacant dwellings. This only exaggerates housing shortages and harms neighbourhoods.
£2.8bn could be saved every year by ending the central government use of private consultants who bring little discernable benefit
£3bn could be saved in user fees and interest charges every year if PFI schemes were replaced with conventional public procurement
Total – 77.895bn.
Here in Wokingham we are keen to work closely in partnership with the Council to look at ways of containing the possible fall-out from this attack, and ensure that where cuts need to be made this is done without undermining service-delivery especially to the vulnerable.
ENDS
Paul Bee
UNISON Branch Secretary
UNISON Branch Health & Safety Officer
Tel: 0118 9746747/0118 9746964
email: paul.bee@wokingham.gov.uk