The Petitions Committee has accepted a petition calling on the Welsh Government to 'work to protect local government when determining the budgets this autumn'.
The full petition wording is as follows:
We petition the Welsh Government to work to protect local government when determining the budgets this Autumn.
Help protect the services we all rely on so much, services we need when we are struggling the most.
Help protect our jobs that we are so proud to do to within our communities.
The Welsh Government MUST find other options to consider, options that would have considerably less impact on our local communities.
Further budget cuts will devastate our communities. The services that local government provide are vital to us all.
Further local government budget cuts will devastate local jobs, services and communities.
As an example:- Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council is an authority that faces some of the highest levels of deprivation in the UK. To manage the recent £102 million budget cuts it has worked hard in a strong partnership with the trade unions to avoid compulsory redundancies and outsourcing of services. The cuts have had an effect on the services provided and the workforce.
Further cuts could mean job losses, including those of front line services, and the transfer of council services to the private sector. NPT UNISON has demonstrated that outsourcing of services does not work in the long term. When private sector companies are used, it results in disruptive, costly and sub-standard service provision, with the loss of jobs and employees terms and conditions.