There are also plans for a pay freeze for 25,000 council workers.

More job cuts are likely over the next five or six years as public spending cuts begin to bite.

The council claims that “most of the money saved will be ploughed back to meet demand for social services”

In fact many of the jobs at risk are in adult social services, although, allegedly, “front line social workers are being protected”.

Quite how front line services will be protected if the staff who provide IT, admin, and other support, lose their jobs is unclear.

Moreover, the council will continue to close the city’s remaining council-run old people’s homes and day centres to  save £6 million, directly harming those who use them. On top of this a “management shake-up in social services”  is claimed to producce £5 million.

It beggars belief that Birmingham council, having admitted last autumn that it had run its childrens social services into the ground, is now going to slash services for the elderly – as well as cutting posts in childrens services.

Chief executive Steven Hughes says “Birmingham is demonstrating how frontline services and significant regeneration schemes can be delivered without punishing taxpayers. I am proud that we are able to do this.”

Call me old fashioned but I thought pensioners who used (or would like to use) social services were also taxpayers

Mr Hughes said everything possible would be done to avoid compulsory redundancies, but he could not rule out the likelihood of sackings

That means expecting the staff left behind to do some (and possibly much) of the work their redundant colleagues used to do.

These proposals endanger the duty of care the council and its staff have to local citizens, and the duty of care the council has to its staff.

Shameless and shameful.

http://www.sundaymercury.net/news/midlands-news/2010/02/10/birmingham-city-council-to-axe-up-to-2-000-jobs-as-spending-is-cut-by-75m-65233-25806868/

Roger Kline