A new Leader will shortly take over control of Suffolk County Council. As highlighted in the East Anglian Daily Times, so far 3 Candidates have emerged. Who ever is elected one of their first tasks will be to determine how they proceed with the implementation of their New Strategic Direction.
This is an open letter to all the candidates asking them to think again about the impact this strategy will have on the people of Suffolk.
When the strategy was launched last November the Council said
“In the face of a 28% reduction in funding for local government over the next four years (around £110 million for Suffolk County Council) the council faces some difficult decisions. Doing nothing is not an option, if we don’t face up to the problem we will make the situation worse and if we just cut the costs of services, the most vulnerable in our communities will suffer. This leaves us with the option of finding another way to cut the cost of delivering services so that we can maintain as many services as possible – particularly for those who need them the most. The New Strategic Direction is our new way of working.”
However the reality seems to be that it is the very front line services that are being put at risk and not the bureaucracy of the county council itself.
In a pre-election publication, The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) described by many as part of the infrastructure of the conservative movement in Britain, highlighted the problems in cutting public expenditure. The paper entitled “cutting public spending by £167bn” said
“As it happens, the Conservatives, if elected, will find it deeply painful to try to implement the modest cuts in spending they have proposed. History and economic theory suggest that small spending cuts will be delivered in a way that produces the maximum political pain. Cuts are administered by incumbent bureaucrats. Bureaucrats can implement spending cuts in a way that minimises the harm to themselves whilst maximising the publicity impact. Important services are cut first; cutting waste is an afterthought. We are familiar with this not just from Yes Minister – which was, in fact, based on sound economic theory well understood by at least one of the authors of the programme – but from our experience of spending cuts in the Thatcher era.”
In Suffolk the idea that their is a vast army of people able and willing to take over running of services like Libraries is nonsense. Even in the United States, most Public Libraries are funded and run by the state.
Such services are fundamental to the quality of life that all of us take for granted. Public libraries exist in most places in the world and are an essential part of having an educated and literate population.
Suffolk cannot wash it hands of providing a county wide service and such a move would hardly be in keeping with the conservatives social philosophy of the maintenance of traditional institutions and support for minimal and gradual change in society.
And the idea that the private sector is waiting with open arms is also naive. Even if they were, Suffolk has already experienced abuse by private suppliers in areas like home care which only highlights the need for effective management control and oversight.
The biggest US Corporation Wal-Mart who now owns Asda is highly efficient at cutting costs and squeezing its suppliers. However it does so also by keeping its costs low by for example choosing not to subsidise its employee’s health costs,a decision that comes at a cost to taxpayers. (taxpayers in California subsidise Wal-Mart employees health costs by more than $20 million each year.) Yes the private sector can help but theat help will often come at a price.
Everyone understands that the council faces some difficult decisions but the new Leader needs to get a grip on the “bureaucrats” at Suffolk County Council and target the waste before it targets the very services the council is their to provide
