PUBLIC sector union UNISON has hit out at plans for drastic cuts across a range of council departments.

The council's draft budget proposals, which are to come before cabinet tomorrow night, contain nearly £10m of savings made by cutting jobs and outsourcing service in order to freeze council tax rates for 2010/11.

UNISON estimates more than 100 staff will be caught up in reorganisations with at least 30 posts deleted.

The union is concerned about cuts to the cemetery team, Greenspace (which maintains parks) and job losses in the housing department.

The council's consumer advice service, which helps individuals and businesses with trading standards issues, is to be scrapped entirely and the union is also concerned about a reduction in the quality of services if plans to merge social worker teams at Whipps Cross Hospital go ahead.

Dave Knight, secretary of the UNISON Waltham Forest branch, said: "UNISON is opposed to all service cuts and we are also very worried about our members losing their jobs.

"Job losses are not a very effective means of reducing public spending as they quite often involve redundancy payments and may lead to workers becoming unemployed and going on to benefits.

"Job losses also reduce spending power and that could have a knock on effect to the country’s economic revival.

"The losses in Waltham Forest will be dreadful for the people that lose their livelihoods but aren’t that significant nationally on their own.

"However, councils up and down the land are facing huge cuts, the civil service is facing cuts too and we can expect thousands of public service workers to be unemployed during the coming year unless there is a successful campaign to make the government see sense."

The draft proposals include large savings in every council department.

A total of £1.7m will be cut from adult social care, including £497,000 saved by reducing staff as part of a government drive to personalise services.

The management of council buildings and facilities will be outsourced, leading to likely redundancies.

Mr Knight said: "The service cuts will come on top of all the cuts we have recently seen, such as Walton House and Edith Pearson Lodge elderly person's homes and Crownfield Road Day Centre.

"The council appears to be doing less and less for its elderly and vulnerable population year on year.

"The proposed outsourcing of facilities management will be opposed.

"This involves the council’s cleaning and property management teams.

"We would warn the council that privatisation of these vital services can only lead to a drop in standards and may also lead to more pay cuts for local people."

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