Unison finds cuts in 'staggering' range of services

10 May 13
Trade union Unison has urged the government to halt cuts to public spending after research revealed a ‘devastating’ impact on councils and hospitals throughout the country.

By Richard Johnstone | 13 May 2013 

Trade union Unison has urged the government to halt cuts to public spending after research revealed a ‘devastating’ impact on councils and hospitals throughout the country.

Unison said school crossing patrols are among areas hit by cuts. Photo: Flickr

General secretary Dave Prentis said mental health services, care homes and hospital accident and emergency departments had all been hit.

Other changes highlighted in the dossier, which covered only cuts coming into effect this year, include job losses across local government, grant reductions to charities and cuts to Sure Start centres and library services. Public toilets and dog handling units are also being shut by some councils, while some school crossing patrols are being withdrawn.

As a result, town halls are spending millions on redundancies at the same time as some introduce charges for green rubbish collection or meals on wheels deliveries, the union said.

Service reductions or changes have been announced by at least 33 NHS hospitals so far this year, the union found, as the health service attempts to make £20bn worth of productivity improvements across England by 2015.

‘Communities are losing a staggering range of services, charges are increasing and vulnerable people are not getting the support they need,’ Prentis said. ‘Hundreds of thousands of public sector jobs are being lost when sacking workers is the last thing our economy needs to get back on its feet.

‘We are urging the government to listen to the overwhelming evidence that cuts are not working, and to spare a thought for those who have lost their jobs or the local services they used to rely on. Investment in jobs is what we need to fuel growth. Cuts have got us nowhere.’

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