Further cuts to local services not sustainable, says UNISON Scotland

Date: Tuesday 2 February 2016

UNISON Scotland is calling for the Scottish Parliament to use its powers to put more money into local services. By 2020 expenditure on public services will be 12.5% lower in real terms. That is on top of the £2.5bn cuts since 2010.

This next round of cuts will mean at least another 15,000 job cuts for local councils. Of the 50,000 jobs that have been lost in devolved public services, 40,000 have been in councils. 

The need for council services has not disappeared, remaining staff have to take on extra work, and do the best they can to deliver what they can. UNISON has the evidence to show our local services are in crisis and further cuts are simply not sustainable.

Mark Ferguson, chair of the UNISON  local government committee said, "Local government services are vital. They deliver health, education, clean and safe streets, child protection and much more. 

"In short they create a good society and the Scottish government should use every power they have to mitigate the worst effects of UK government austerity. 

"The Scottish Parliament has tax raising powers - they can end the council tax freeze, they can work with councils to refinance PFI schemes or invest pension funds in public works, or do more to follow the recommendations of the Christie Commission and invest in preventative spending as a way of making sustainable savings. 

"The bottom line is they have the powers to protect Scots from the worst of austerity. The need for local services has not gone away, so why should our local services?"

END  
UNISON Contacts 
Dave Watson 07958 122 409
Danny Phillips 07944 664 110

Scottish public bodies must mitigate austerity, says UNISON

Date: Wednesday 23 September 2015

UNISON Scotland is launching a campaign today (23 September 2015) calling on the Scottish Government, local authorities and public bodies to do all they can to mitigate UK government austerity.

The public services trade union is calling for a range of financial and industrial policies to create investment in Scottish infrastructure, green energy production and jobs.

With interest rates at an all time low, it is cheaper to buy out or refinance PPP / PFI contracts saving up to £12bn; pension funds could be a source of badly needed investment for infrastructure, we need a political consensus on reform of local taxation; and councils should collaborate in using bonds as a means of financing borrowing rather than routinely using the Public Works Loan Board.

Dave Watson, head of UNISON Scotland bargaining and campaigns, said ‘We are expecting a further £2bn of cuts to local public services across Scotland. We could save £2bn by refinancing PFI / PPP projects. Every sensible measure that government and public authorities take will reduce damage to vital public services and protects jobs. And some councils are already using pension funds to invest in affordable housing, but we need to do this on a national scale.'

Dave Watson continued: 
‘Scottish local government has already seen over 40,000 job losses and many more jobs have been lost in the NHS, police, community and voluntary sector. Of course UNISON is joining with the STUC and others to campaign against austerity, however we are ready to work with Scottish Government and public authorities to do all we can to mitigate against the worst effects of these cuts’

The report is launched today

END

Notes

• UNISON is Scotland’s public services union, and it is the biggest trade union in Scotland
• The full report can be read here:http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/publicworks/CombatingAusterity_Sep2015.pdf

Horsemeat, tax dodging and procurement - opportunities to act

25 March 2013

Stop Climate Chaos Scotland is a signatory to a letter in today's Scotsman saying that the forthcoming Procurement Reform Bill is a major opportunity to tackle school meal supply chains, tax-avoiding companies and climate change.

The STUC is also a signatory.

This is the text of the letter....

Horsemeat in kids’ school meals and multinationals’ tax avoidance are two recent scandals to have captured the public’s imagination, and are arguably more likely to grab readers’ attention than the subject at the heart of this letter: the Scottish Procurement Reform Bill.

Yet, this imminent reform of Scotland’s procurement processes (essentially, how our public sector buys things) represents a fantastic opportunity to tackle tax-avoiding companies, school meal supply chains and much more.

From apartheid-related boycotts and beyond, Scots have long understood how to harness their buyer-power to bring about positive change. Last month, Scotland became only the second country to be declared a Fair Trade Nation, reflecting a vast increase in our propensity to seek out fairly-traded goods.

Two weeks ago, a Christian Aid poll found that 55 per cent of Scots are considering boycotting companies that they perceive to be avoiding taxes (a far higher percentage than the UK-wide figure). If we are taking these actions at individual level, it seems reasonable to expect our governments to follow suit. Scotland’s biggest consumer is our public sector, which spends a whopping 
£9 billion per year on our behalf.

The Procurement Reform Bill, due to pass through the Scottish Parliament this year, is our opportunity to demand high standards of our public sector suppliers in areas such as fair trade, carbon emissions, tax practices, labour standards, community-based solutions, animal welfare and more. We look forward to working with the Scottish Government in shaping this legislation.

CHRIS HEGARTY

Chair, Enough Food for Everyone IF Scotland

Full letter and signatories on the Scotsman website

HELP MILLIONAIRES OR GIVE 618,800 FAMILIES IN SCOTLAND INCREASED CHILD BENEFIT

18 March 2013

New analysis from UNISON reveals that instead of cutting taxes for millionaires in the budget, the government could end the child benefit freeze, giving up to 618,800 families in Scotland increased child benefit in line with inflation.

The decision would make a difference of up to £200 a year to 303,765 families in the Scotland with two children, and more than £100 a year for the 315,035 families with one child, helping to ease growing levels of child poverty.

New figures from the TUC last week showed that more than half a million children in the UK will slip into poverty by the 2015.

The u-turn would also have a huge knock on effect by stimulating local economies. Unlike millionaires, low paid families spend most of their money in local shops and businesses and they have precious little left over to save.

UNISON is calling on the government to make the right choice in the budget next week (20 March), with targeted help for hard-pressed families.

Scottish Regional Secretary Mike Kirby, said: "The true blue Tory-led coalition is a government of the rich for the rich. It is a disgrace that child poverty is growing in the UK because of benefit and welfare cuts, whilst millionaires are being handed tax cuts.

"Low paid families cannot afford to save. Restoring child benefit levels  would lead to more spending in local shops and businesses, giving our beleaguered high streets the boost they need."

The government's decision to cut the 50p rate of tax would hand the 13,000 millionaires in the UK an average of £97,884.62 next year, at a cost to the Treasury of £1,272.5 million.

If this tax had been collected, it could have funded an increase to child benefit - in line with CPI inflation - for the first two children in every family, effectively helping 12,049,360 children and nearly 8 million families.

.A family with one child will get £114.50 a year less than they would have received if child benefit had been raised in line with CPI.

A family with two children will get £190.09 a year less, and a family with three children is £265.66 a year worse off.

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Autumn Statement: this is the road to disaster, more austerity is not the answer

George Osborne’s Autumn Statement is yet more evidence that austerity is hurting but has no chance of working, UNISON Scottish Secretary Mike Kirby said today.

Mike Kirby said: “The Chancellor stood up today and told us we were on the right track, and that turning back would be a disaster. The truth – as shown by his record of multiple recession, mass unemployment and a massive attack on public services – is that the ConDem austerity plan has already been a disaster.

“Promising still more austerity is not the answer to our growing economic and social problems. It is pure and dangerous ideological malice.

“The cuts George Osborne continues to impose hurt people who depend on public services and set back our economic recovery. 

“Half a million jobs have already been lost in the public services - 30,000 in Scotland - since the economic crisis began. And another 250,000 more are under threat - as we’re still only a quarter of the way through the government’s austerity measures.

“He says he’s ending the public sector pay freeze – but wages have dived far below the freezing point and public service workers are being frozen out from real pay rises for years into the future. The pensions tax of 3% which faces many of our members adds an extra burden.

“The Chancellor said we are all in this together, he said he’d make sure the rich would pay their fair share – then handed out a tax break to the rich, and cut the rate of corporation tax even further.

“In short this is the wrong budget for the wrong time.”

Mike Kirby added: “The ‘extra’ which Scotland is promised isn’t quite as generous as it looks. It doesn’t go anywhere near making up for Scotland’s declining budget – cut as a result of the Chancellor’s disastrous austerity plan.

“However it does give the Scottish government some limited choices. We believe preventative spending is likely to be better for the economy, jobs and public services both in the short and long term than the much hyped ‘shovel ready’ projects which Alex Salmond has said are the only way to get the economy moving."

ENDS

Note for editors

UNISON has identified billions of pounds that could be used to provide an alternative to drastic public spending cuts that have vandalised our public services, devastated communities and laid waste to our economy. 

This funding would help save services, put people back to work, increase the taxes paid to the Treasury, boost consumer spending power and reduce unnecessary spending on benefits.

Sources of funding  could include the £34.8bn cash surplus built up by the Bank of England

now being returned to the Treasury (£11bn in 2012/13 and £23.8bn in 2013/14)

A further £10bn could be raised by tackling aggressive tax avoidance schemes – and even more could be raised by making multinationals pay their fair share.

For more information on UNISON’s policies to defend our public services please go to

www.unison-scotland.org.uk

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Autumn statement: UNISON - Dave Prentis reaction

5 Dec 2012

Commenting on Chancellor George Osborne’s, autumn statement, Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON, said:

“Today’s statement is more proof that the Chancellor neither knows nor cares about what ordinary working people in this country are going through. The austerity agenda means that families across the country have even less to spend on everyday essentials, while tax winners at the top have more. Raising personal tax allowances is small beer for families facing rising food and energy bills.

“The budget in March was certainly not the Chancellor’s finest hour and the statement today will do nothing to restore confidence in his ability to drag the country back into growth. It is time to give the economy an adrenalin shot. The Chancellor’s plans are simply not working, his economic policies are in tatters - debt is rising, growth is flat lining and unemployment is still unacceptably high.

“We heard nothing today that showed the Government is prepared to face the challenge head on and invest substantially in infrastructure, in building much needed homes, and putting money into people’s pockets to get them spending and boosting the economy.”

UNISON UK news releases are here

UNISON Scotland's reaction to the autumn statement will be posted here shortly.

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Scotland should ban companies involved in tax dodging from public contracts

Friday 2 November 2012

UNISON Scotland today urged the Scottish Government to ban companies involved in tax dodging from being eligible for public contracts.

The public services union said that Ministers should use their forthcoming Procurement Reform Bill to take innovative action against companies using tax havens and other forms of tax dodging.

Scottish Organiser Dave Watson said: "It is entirely wrong that companies seeking to avoid paying their fair share of tax should be awarded public contracts.

"Public bodies in Scotland spend nearly £11 billion annually through procurement. This Bill offers ways to use that spending to deliver local social, economic and environmental benefits.

"We think this is an important opportunity to do what some European cities such as Helsinki and Paris are already doing, in acting against companies using tax havens.

"Our message to the Scottish Government is that they should adopt a tax justice approach, finding ways, with appropriate legal advice, to bar companies involved in tax dodging from being eligible to bid."

Recently public outrage has focused on big-name companies like Google, Amazon and Starbucks paying miniscule amounts of tax. Many companies investing in PPP/PFI projects are registered in tax havens.

UNISON believes that community benefit clauses could be used to argue that the community will benefit from companies paying proper levels of taxes.

Dave added: "This Bill also offers opportunities to strengthen labour rights and workforce protections, to extend the Living Wage to private sector employees on public contracts and to exclude companies involved in blacklisting trade unionists from bidding for public contracts.

"And, of course, public procurement policies must contribute properly to Scotland’s climate change targets and must support a ‘Just Transition’ to a low carbon economy."

Ends

 

Notes for Editors:

1. UNISON’s Procurement Reform Bill Consultation response is online at　

www.unison-scotland.org.uk/response/ProcurementReformBill_Response_Nov2012.pdf

2. A number of European cities/regions are already acting against companies that use tax havens.

www.ipsnews.net/2012/10/helsinki-boycotts-tax-havens/

3. Richard Murphy, of Tax Research UK, and adviser to the Tax Justice Network, says that legislation in England, the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012, provides councils there with ways to argue for this that would not breach EU procurement rules. This would include councils being able to demonstrate that a large company paying tax would benefit the community through funding for better education, roads etc. This would allow them to choose a tender on the basis of which company pays tax or not.

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2012/10/23/the-october-taxcast-from-the-tax-justice-network/　 UNISON believes the Procurement Reform Bill could use a similar approach.

4.There has been considerable success in winning the Living Wage for public service workers in Scotland – directly employed Scottish Government and NDPB staff, the NHS, a growing number of councils -　 but UNISON wants to see it extended to staff employed by contractors and this Bill offers the chance to do this. We also support John Park MSP’s Living Wage (Scotland) Bill.

www.scottish.parliament.uk/S4_MembersBills/Living_Wage_Consultation_Final.pdf

5. Living Wage week takes place next week, from 4-10 November. The Scottish Living Wage Campaign website is at

http://slw.povertyalliance.org/index.php 　

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Scotland the tax haven?

The Scottish Government paper on devolving Corporation Tax has been published. UNISON Scotland is not only a strong advocate of devolution, but we would generally be regarded as in the 'devolution max' camp. This is reflected in our evidence to the Calman Commission and elsewhere. However, we have opposed the devolution of Corporation Tax and here are just four of the reasons:

 

1. The there is little evidence that cutting taxes on business creates new jobs. If there is a link, it is marginal and there are more cost effective ways of using the same money to create more jobs. Most of the savings are likely to go into big company profits and shareholders pockets.
2. Like the UK Government's enterprise zones, at best this might displace jobs from one part of the UK to another. Turning Scotland into some type of tax haven is not the basis for a strong economy with real jobs. At worst it will simply lead to 'brass plating' were companies notionally move their headquarters to Scotland, but no real jobs are created.
3. Devolution of taxation is not a free lunch because there will be a corresponding cut in the block grant. Northern Ireland estimates have just increased to £400m and it would be much more for Scotland. The Treasury estimate is £2.6bn is probably an over estimate, but £800m is still big. Even if the Scottish Government is right that the lower tax rate will lead to a higher yield, there will be several years during which public services will have to be cut to fund the gap. Obviously this is the worst time to take such a risk. In any case the evidence for higher yields (Laffer Curve) is again slim.
4. Lower tax rates in one part of the UK could come up against state aid rules and what is known as the Azores judgement. In essence Scotland could face an additional cut in public spending. The cost to the block grant could be as much as £1 to 1.5bn. That's a lot of schools and hospitals.

There are many other arguments against this policy articulated by a range of groups across the spectrum. Respected tax expert Richard Murphy's commentary is always worth a read. 

 

The only winners from this policy will be big business. The losers will be the rest of us through cuts in jobs and public services. Scotland the tax haven? No thanks.

 

Tax cuts for rich businesses isn’t much of a strategy – UNISON Scotland budget response

UNISON Scotland has slammed Osborne’s decision to cut corporation tax for rich businesses, claiming the focus should be on collecting taxes not cutting them.

The union branded Osborne’s ‘no budge budget’ as a missed opportunity to right Tory economic wrongs.

By passing up the chance to scale back the savage public spending cuts, the Tories are condemning the economy to long-term low growth and high unemployment.

UNISON’s Scottish Secretary, Mike Kirby, said: “Tax cuts for rich businesses that don’t pay their taxes at the moment isn’t much of a strategy.

“Each year, billions of pounds are lost to the economy due to tax avoidance by rich businesses. Our members already pay their taxes through PAYE and the Chancellor should be focussing on collecting the taxes of those who don’t.

“In order to build a fairer, more sustainable society we need fair taxation and tough measures in place to combat tax avoidance. However, this budget will see the most vulnerable in our society paying the price for the bankers’ mistakes as they watch the public services they rely on disappear.”

UNISON is calling for a change of direction and a budget for growth including a Robin Hood Tax. This tax on the banks would add £20 billion to the public purse – twenty times the measures the Chancellor announced today to close tax loopholes.

Twenty billion would save local services from shut down, keep children’s nurseries open, stop hospital’s shedding jobs and save adult day centres from closure.

ENDS

Notes to editors

1.UNISON is Scotland’s largest union. For more information on our campaign to protect public services visit: www.unison-scotland.org.uk/publicworks .