Liberal Democrats Condemn Tory Staff Cuts

Months of debate came to a head today when Surrey County Council voted on the Business Delivery Review (BDR) - with the Liberal Democrat group rejecting the proposals sanctioned by the Tory-run Executive to cut staff numbers. Staff members and representatives of their trade unions listened in the public gallery and the adjoining Ashcombe Suite as Liberal Democrats fought against the proposals, which included a reduction of 561 FTE (Full Time Equivalent) jobs. A recorded vote saw 56 in favour of BDR, with 14 against and two abstentions.

Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Hazel Watson (Dorking Hills) said the Liberal Democrats were against the BDR proposals because they would result in service cuts that are bad news for Surrey residents. "We would support genuine efficiency savings that would deliver better services, but the BDR proposals go way too far to be simply efficiency savings and into the realm of service cuts."

Cllr Watson continued: "If the BDR was all about genuine efficiency savings and meeting the needs of Surrey residents, then why did it propose cutting bus services, closing libraries and youth centres? Thankfully the administration seems to be backing down from these unpopular proposals after massive opposition from the public and from the Liberal Democrats. What a waste of time, effort and money!

The bill for these redundancies is a staggering £16 ½ million" said Cllr Watson. "This amount could have been much lower if the administration had acted sooner to find and implement genuine efficiency savings as we have urged them to do many times, suggesting the County Council cut back spending on consultants, agency staff, PR and glossy publications. We asked again today for these areas to be looked at."

Cllr Fiona White (Guildford West) Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Adults and Community Care talked about particular areas of concern in that portfolio including the deferment of the Single Assessment Project - a key project for people receiving adult care - and the future of the Surrey Welfare Rights Unit (SWRU). Under BDR, the SWRU is scheduled for closure, with the idea that staff in Surrey County Council's benefits and charging department take on the role. Fiona had previously put forward an amendment at the Adults and Community Care Select Committee to take the unit's future out of BDR. "I would suggest that to cut the numbers of staff in the benefits and charging department and then to ask those reduced numbers to take on the role of advising on very complex benefits matters is a mistake of mammoth proportions. There are risks to this Council if we go ahead with that proposal which have not been recognised", she said.

Cllr White continued: "The effect of these proposals on service delivery must be monitored closely. If the result is poorer customer care, we must be prepared to react quickly. The people of Surrey should not be used as guinea-pigs in some sort of bizarre experiment without a safety net to protect them."

Transportation is another key area, David Goodwin (Guildford South West) and a Liberal Democrat member of the Transportation Select Committee, said: "Over the last 12 months we have gone down from 11 area transportation offices to four and now, under BDR, down to two. Cutting that number of staff is not going to make any improvement to the highways for the residents of Surrey and probably what we'll see in the next 12 to 18 months is the County Council looking to re-employ people to work in highways."

Sarah Di Caprio (Guildford South East), Spokesperson for the Environment and Economy said that in areas like countryside management and Rights of Way, staff cuts were in the region of between 10 and 25%. "The BDR structure has created a new Policy and Performance directorate, and the work on areas like strategic/regional planning and sustainability - which is actually seeing one of the biggest cuts in staff, by around half - will be carried out by this new department. But will this meaner, leaner machine cover all the specialisms? Will staff who are already working to capacity be asked to take on areas that aren't their speciality?"

Speaking on more general terms, Sarah Di Caprio echoed the Liberal Democrat group's concerns when she said: "It has been stated that no frontline posts will be lost, but what effect will this reduced capacity have on the work that is carried out? Again, overstretched staff will be asked to make a difference. Will they stay the course?

"The result of BDR will be a tired and demoralised staff asked to pick up the pieces of this 'rush job' financial overhaul - and the losers will be Surrey residents once again."