The secret's out now

I was astonished to hear that Edinburgh Council’s SNP/Libdem administration are to cut almost 1000 jobs in three years as part of the Pathfinder project. They did so with no reference to anyone, least of all the trade unions who represent the 1000 people who will loose their jobs.

It was Labour that successfully obtained the money for the Pathfinder project (almost £1.5m)

We set out clear principles for what we meant by efficiencies

• Best value for the public pound by delivering services more efficiently by sharing services across councils as well as across departments
• Efficiency is getting more for the same amount of money
• If it meant job reductions, that would be without compulsory redundancies

We started this task of radical change to bring about real and lasting efficiencies and we did so openly and transparently. This secretive administration chose to announce its intention to the press before it went to anyone else.

• They have failed to prioritise efficiencies through working between councils, concentrating instead on Edinburgh Council alone
• They have understood efficiencies to mean primarily job losses rather than getting more from what we already spend. Budget cuts and efficiencies are not necessarily the same thing.
• They have not been willing to commit to no compulsory redundancies”

We want the Pathfinder Project to bring the best value and efficiencies we knew it could, but we will scrutinise every detail before we give any of it our blessing or at least out vote and we will not vote for compulsory redundancies.