Concern over Reductions in Council Staffing

Thursday evening's Evening Telegraph carried reports of concerns from trade unions about the impact of Dundee City Council having 1000 fewer employees over the last year. Even the SNP's finance spokesperson has said of these job losses that 'It would be unrealistic to claim that this has had no impact on the city council,' he does go on to talk about protecting front-line services. There is no doubt that the cuts in employee numbers are having an impact both on services and on those still providing council services. Recent events in social care demonstrate the position which councils are in. Over many years, from governments of differing politics, councils have been encouraged to outsource social care and care for the elderly. I'm not totally opposed to service provision by the private and voluntary sector but we see in the case of Southern Cross who are in financial difficulty that it will be local authorities who will be expected to deal with the repercussions of market failure. I would not want old people left to fend for themselves and it is right that local authorities should provide safeguards. It does beg the question however about what risks the private sector takes, if it can make profits its appropriates these to itself and its shareholders, if it cannot it abandons the service. These are tough times economically for local government but I think that this issue demonstrates that cheapest is not always the best and that the private sector is not the answer to every problem.