PUBLIC SERVICE CUTS

[Stanley]

Woman's Hour is a splendid programme which discusses matters that don't normally get an airing. They have been looking at the accessibility of services that mostly impact women like those connected with post natal care and find a uniform picture all over the country, they are getting harder to access due to cuts.This applies to a lot of non-acute services in the NHS and is a big hidden problem as it is not measured like waiting times or outcomes.

[Stanley]

I know I'm always banging on about it but have you looked at the latest crime figures? Can anyone seriously repeat the canard that funding and staffing has nothing to do with these dire figures? It's a national disgrace.

[Stanley]

See THIS for a BBC account of the report into low family incomes by the Resolution Foundation. Basically it says that after adjustments for rent and inflation they are lower than 15 years ago even though the employment figures are up. In other words, Theresa's 'Just Managing' families whom she promised to help are sliding even further into poverty. This is of course the result of austerity which we were promised would be shared out. Make up your own mind about whether this is true or not.
This growth in poverty and the state of society is what government should be focussing on, not Brexit and matters of high finance. If we do suffer consequences from Brexit these families are going to be hit the hardest.
My mind goes back to Thomas Piketty who forecast that unless GDP rose to over 3% this would be the consequence. It's a national disgrace.

[plaques]

We all come across examples of reductions in income but tend to dismiss them as 'these things happen'. Two examples related to me in the last couple of weeks were typical of the current problems. A lady wanted to take her two daughters to Blackpool for the week but found that the weeks caravan site for the normal school holiday period would cost over £500. Fortunately, an out of season price, two weeks earlier cost £250, which she was able to take. The seconds was a comment from a retired Pendle Leisure worker who said that ten years ago he retired on over £10 a hour as an instructor but now saw that staff was being offered just over £7 per hour as their starting rate. This comparison may not be exactly like for like but gives a good indicator of wage stagnation.

[Stanley]

And the promise was..... 'We will make work pay!"

[Stanley]

We almost get used to hypocrisy from politicians but Liz Truss announcing the pitiful pay rise for some public workers took the biscuit yesterday. They are still getting less in real terms than they did ten years ago plus what they have lost in that time. In the words of the advert "How do they sleep at night?"
Also, in the majority of cases the money will have to come from existing budgets so that means cuts somewhere else. Deep Joy!

[PanBiker]

Plus of course there are thousands less of them to pay with the reduction in staffing levels.

[Stanley]

Ian, quite.......

[Stanley]

News this morning that at last the government is addressing the problem of the dreaded Grayling's privatisation of the Probationary Service when he was Justice Minister. (LINK) I suppose this is good, if expensive, news but unfortunately they intend to replace the system with more input from the private sector. Do they never learn? We used to have a functioning state run service that, whilst needing improvement, was far better than what we have now.

[Stanley]

See THIS for a Guardian report on the news from the Office of National Statistics that average family debt is rising and is at the highest since 1988. This serious decline and all the ills that ensue is being ignored in the rush to Brexit by any means.....

[Stanley]

Later..... See THIS BBC report of a statement from the Chief Constable of the West Midlands police that due to the cuts his force is struggling to give a 'poor service'. The government response is to say that the force will receive an extra £10million this year but after inflation and the rise in violent crime is this anywhere near enough?

[chinatyke]

The UK gave 46.9million pounds to China last year and 319.6 million pounds to Nigeria, it can't give to everyone! What a way to run a country.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... geria.html

[Stanley]

I've hitherto supported foreign aid China as a good thing but I agree with you, a bit of a rethink is indicated.

[Stanley]

See THIS Guardian report of the news that the already cash-strapped Northamptonshire County Council is looking for a further £7million saving. There are fears that some core services that the council is statutorily required to support may have to be cut. Austerity is still doing its poisonous work on society.....

[Stanley]

I had first hand experience of the effects of police cuts. Don't bother trying to call 101, I don't think there is anyone there......

[Stanley]

I had a good conversation with PCO Neill Wallin yesterday. He was naturally guarded in his replies but it is quite obvious that the rank and file in the police force are watching what is happening to the force with horror.
We are continually assured by the Tories that the police are adequately funded but I think we can all understand the crime figures, the detection rates and the general absence of visible officers on the streets.
This isn't the only area where the cuts are biting. One cunning wheeze is to 'lighten the load' on the officers by changing the rules, dog on dog attacks and parking are no longer a police matter. The Chinese used to have a torture called 'death by a thousand cuts'. I fear this is what we are looking at......

[Stanley]

Since my experience with the police cuts have been on my mind, nothing specific but it reminds me that there must be thousands of people impacted in other ways who are faced with the lack of control that struck me on a daily basis. Unlike the politicians we must never forget them!

[Tizer]

The police also opt out of anything to do with online scams and frauds.

[Stanley]

Stuart, my butcher tells me that parking related offences are also devolved to the councils. He was involved in a parking related incident involving road rage and the police wouldn't do anything as 'it was a parking matter'.

[Stanley]

Talking to people it's obvious that almost everyone is aware of the damage austerity is doing and they are angry. Susan , my daughter, is a qualified carer and she was telling me about a single mother with two children she knows who is struggling to survive on less than £800 a month and is worried to death. Just one of the little people whose lives are a misery while our leaders holiday in the South of France. This isn't the politics of envy, it's clear sighted recognition of the fact that we are going back to Disraeli and the Two Nations. I see partial collapse of society eventually if these trends aren't reversed. As it is it will take 50 years to repair the damage if we started trying to do so tomorrow. Am I just an old pessimistic dinosaur?

[Stanley]

See THIS Huffington Post article which gives the disturbing news that the DWP has instructed Job Centre staff not to record referrals to food banks. Now why should they do this if it isn't to cut down on recorded data which could signal a rise in the need?

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on the latest stages of the problems at Northamptonshire County Council. Regardless of what contribution the council has made to this situation by bad management, the core issue is the cut in government funding as demand for services increases. Other authorities are experiencing the same problems. There is also the suggestion that in the case of Tory controlled councils they believed government publicity and froze Council Tax.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on the meeting. 15 Tory councillors didn't attend the meeting........ Radical cuts have been passed. I note that the Commissioners sent in from Whitehall are being charged to the council at £1500 a day each.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on the announcement of a new policy to end rough sleeping in the next 9 years. Like many of the established charities that work to help these people I am not reassured. There is no indication of where this money is coming from, are they simply moving the dackchairs round and raiding existing provision? Also there is the small point about the reasons why this total is rising, the accepted reasons are that they are a result of economic pressures under austerity, the lack of low cost accommodation for these and other homeless people and cuts in existing services for rough sleepers, mainly via the cash strapped local councils. Bearing these matters in mind I am definitely reserving judgement. We have seen too many of these statements of intent which capture a headline and never come to anything.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on the failure of management at what was Winson Green Prison in Birmingham. This is not the only prison in trouble, think Liverpool and Exeter, it is simply that it has reached crisis point and was not functioning at all, conditions are beyond dreadful. The government will dispute that this is partly due to privatisation and partly lack of funding and supervision but it's hard to escape that conclusion. How can anyone take profit out of an essential service like this?
I've just been listening to the Chief Inspector of Prisons and he stated clearly that reductions in funding have had an effect, his exact words were "'It is difficult to escape this conclusion". He says that a proper independent investigation of how this happened and the role of the Justice Department has to be properly investigated. He couldn't be more specific, most unusual and refreshing.