Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio Scotland Public Spending Debates: South West
Post categories: Borders,ÌýNews,ÌýPolitics,ÌýProgrammes
| 17:00 UK time, Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio Scotland continues to assess public reaction to the proposed Government spending cuts, with it's series of debates being held around Scotland.
Last night, senior broadcast journalist Willie Johnston chaired the debate held in Dumfries and Galloway, and highlights some of the issues of concern for the councillors and communities below:
South West Public Spending Review - Brigend Theatre, Dumfries
The main focus of the debate was the cuts of more than £50 million pounds facing in the next three years and the impact on jobs and services. The authority will be making the first decisions about where to wield the axe in the next few months and council leader Ivor Hyslp admitted that the total number of job cuts required could be in the order of 800.
The council came under fire for the number of senior managers it employs and - in particular - for the creation of a brand new post of assistant chief executive.
The impact of the cuts on Dumfries and Galloway police was also highlighted. The region's chief constable said they were likely to lose around 60 uniformed officers through non-replacement in the next three years as well as a large proportion of vital backroom staff.
Other issues explored included the vulnerability of the economy of Dumfries and Galloway because of the region's high dependence on public sector jobs and relatively small private sector. Gordon Mann of the region's said there was a real danger of the region suffering a "double-dip recession".
The debate was held in front of an audience of around 70 in the Brigend Theatre in Dumfries. The panellists were Conservative , Labour's , the SNP's , Liberal Democrat and council leader .
You can listen to the debate tonight at 2205 on Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio Scotland and the programme is also available on iPlayer.
Comment number 1.
At 13th Oct 2010, paulnlinda wrote:i was at the debate, and it was clear to me the council is top heavy with management, as with similar public bodies.But management will not cut managers, it is always the workers at the coalface, i should no as a Unison safety rep with Scottish Water.I never got to ask my question so will be emailing the panel, and was surprised that Ivor Hyslop said just 800 cuts?? In Scottish Water over the last 6 years we have seen not 20%,not even 40% cuts but over 50% cuts ,over 4000 hardworking staff, and over 100 quality jobs have gone from this area alone, and they are still cutting so much so Staff's Safety is at Risk eg covering large areas , round trips over 200 miles on standby.I listened with dispondment this morning to radio scotland and a certain Jenny Stewart from KPMG ? talking about privatising Scotland's Water, i think the people from Scotland have seen what happens when you privatise utilities, bills rockets and service is poor, and they are usually foreign owned with the money going out of Scotland.You just need to look at the french who have brought there water company back to the Public.
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