Unison response to Lambeth Council cuts

This is the Executive Summary of a detailed report sent today by UNISON to Labour Councillors in Lambeth, responding to their proposals for the Council budget, which threaten 600 jobs and deep cuts to vital local services;· UNISON opposes all cuts in public services and does not support a balanced budget at the expense of public services;· UNISON recognises that Lambeth’s Labour Group has agreed to set a balanced budget;· The budget will include “reserves” which, in accordance with official guidance, are intended to “cushion the impact of emergencies”;· The higher the level of reserves which the Council budgets for, the deeper the cuts it needs to plan in order to balance the budget;· Lambeth has increased its unallocated reserves considerably over the past four years (by £19.5 Million, more than 200%);· Lambeth’s unallocated reserves are the fourth highest of any London Borough and £15 Million more than the average London Borough;· If Lambeth planned to reduce its reserves to the London average in 2011/12 it could – for example - avoid all of the cuts which will “reduce” and “stop” services according to the officers’ report;· UNISON believes that the Coalition Government attack upon public services is precisely the sort of “emergency” which should lead to the Council spending money from its reserves;UNISON calls upon the Labour Group to rethink its budget proposals and have a dialogue with the workforce and the community about the appropriate level of unallocated reserves in the Council budget.