The Conservative government is forcing Milton Keynes Council to make cuts in excess of £22 million this year alone. The Labour administration have managed to successfully defend some key services, such as Children’s Centres (currently none are scheduled to close) and Libraries, but the full weight of the Tory austerity agenda will still be felt by our most desperate and deprived citizens. There is an unprecedented level of savings being made in services such as Adult Social Care (ASC) and Children & Families, which will undoubtedly have an impact on how residents access council services in the future.
GMB has been working closely with elected representatives and MK Council officers to try and identify alternatives to redundancy of council staff. Most importantly GMB are working with members and staff to highlight the issues that making cuts to council services will create. To-date we have experienced some success; by working with Labour Councillors and some of the affected staff we have seen a number of proposals withdrawn or postponed, pending further review. However we cannot rest on the assumption that these successes tip the balance in any way, as we already know that MK Council will pushed to make more cuts in the coming years.
GMB will continue to work for, and with, members during this difficult period. If you want to get involved in your union please contact us the details on this website, or if you work for MK Council and would like to speak with someone please contact the GMB Senior Convenor (details available via the ‘Contact Us’ page or the council’s intranet).
N.B. The meeting of GMB Milton Keynes City branch scheduled for Monday 8 February has been cancelled. This decision was taken at the previous meeting in January; members in attendance felt it was necessary for branch officers to be present at the Council’s Cabinet meeting on this date.
Posted: 4th February 2016