Written evidence from Unison

Introduction

UNISON is the UK’s largest public services union representing 1.3 million members, including more than 600,000 in local government.

We welcome recent reports by the National Audit Office – Financial sustainability of local authorities and The impact of funding reductions on local authorities – for the important contribution they make to understanding the pattern and impact of local government spending cuts in England.

UNISON work on local authority services

UNISON has been undertaking a programme of work to explore the impact of funding reductions on local authority services – focusing particularly on the impact on local people who use those services.

Our work suggests that the effect of short-term funding cuts is to store up longer term costs for the future. In this note we set out some of our findings in relation to some key local service areas. We hope this will be useful to the Committee in your forthcoming session.

Trading standards

In the fair trading function alone, trading standards services generate £6 of consumer savings for every £1 spent on them[1]. Yet this is a service area which has suffered severe spending cuts. Research by UNISON in 2012[2] showed that spending cuts of 13% over two years in trading standards had had a dramatic impact on levels of activity, including:

• a 29% fall in the total number of prosecutions
• a 26% fall in the total number of programmed (ie scheduled) inspections
• a 24% fall in the total number of visits for enforcement purposes
• a 25% fall in the total number of age restricted test purchases.

What this means on the ground is illustrated by this quote from a trading standards officer and UNISON member:

“We cannot carry out sufficient internet investigations due to lack of investment in equipment and software. We cannot perform statutory required formal product safety testing procedures...because of the cost. We cannot perform adequate surveillance operations because of lack of equipment, staffing resources and competency training. Regional intelligence provision has been massively impacted.”

Our survey of 322 trading standards staff asked respondents about how their service had changed over the previous two years:

• Three quarters said they undertake fewer inspections.
• 70% said they have stopped providing some services.
• 70% said they do less preventative work.
• Half said they are less well-equipped to deal with new forms of scam.
• Nearly half said they spend more time on paperwork.
• 46% said the public has to wait longer for a response.
• Over a third said they are now less likely to pursue complex cases.
• 30% said their service was making greater use of charging for services.

Environmental health

“Environmental health is a service that is not important, until there is a problem…the media and some politicians dislike ‘health and safety’, however should someone be injured…questions are quickly asked by those same people – ‘why was this allowed to happen?’”

Environmental health officer, UNISON survey

Environmental health services need capacity to undertake regular pro-active, preventative work to protect communities from hazards, disease and accidents. Yet they too have been subjected to higher than average cuts as local authorities have sought to protect service areas like social care. Our 2012 survey of 422 environmental health staff from 206 local authorities found:

• Well over half (60%) reported that there was now less emphasis on preventative work within the service
• 51% reported that their employer had now ceased to provide some services
• 49% reported a new emphasis on services which generate revenue
• Over half reported that the introduction / increase in charging for pest control services meant that people were more likely to try and treat problems themselves
• An increase in fly-tipping, largely as a result of charges being introduced or increased, was seen as an issue by nearly half (47%)

Food law enforcement trends

Environmental health and trading standards practitioners employed by local authorities are the key enforcement agents for food standards and food safety. In the wake of the horsemeat scandal, this is an area which has been the subject of considerable public scrutiny and concern. However, despite some targeted extra funding via the Food Standards Agency (FSA), cuts to local authority funding continue to seriously erode local capacity to protect the integrity of the food chain.

According to local authority returns to the FSA, in the three-year period between 2010/11 and 2013/14[[1]]:

• The annual number of consumer complaints about food dealt with in the UK rose by 7% from 66,042 to 70,522.
• The number of FTE staff engaged in food law enforcement fell by 12% from 2,774 to 2,449.
• The number of official food samples taken fell by 18% over the three year period, despite a small recovery between 2012/13 and 2013/14 when 3% more samples were carried out sparked by the horsemeat scandal.
• A similar trend is observed in the annual number of sampling visits which fell by 7% from 21,602 to 20,053, although visit numbers recovered slightly in the last 12 months, again linked to horsemeat.
• Lower risk establishments are now less likely to be checked than they were in 2010/11 as authorities seek to focus diminished resources where the risk is deemed to be higher.
• The overall number of food law prosecutions has fallen by 18% from 495 to 407 – with a 37% fall in food standards prosecutions and a 14% fall in food hygiene prosecutions.

Children’s centres

Children’s centres provide a range of services which support families, promote child development, offer early help, and enable parents to work. UNISON research based on 2014 Freedom of Information returns from local authorities shows that:

• Over £82m has been cut from children’s centre budgets in the past three years

• 285 children’s centres have closed or merged since 2010

• 60% of women responding to a UNISON survey[3] who said they use children’s centres, said there are now fewer types of support available. 69% said there were fewer staff and 59% said there were shorter opening/operating hours

Research from the Family and Childcare Trust[4]showed that:

• Almost a fifth (17%) of parents had to call in sick last year in order to manage childcare during the six week summer holiday – at a cost of nearly one million working days across the UK.

• Only 27% of local councils in England had enough holiday childcare for working parents.

• 25% of parents were forced to cut their hours during school holidays.             

“The local children’s centre used to be the hub of the community. It provided activities for children, day trips, events and social groups for free or low cost. The service has been cut and instead private companies are providing services. Outsourcing services had led to substantial price rises. Trips and events no longer happen and the centre is no longer a hub of activity and children and parents have lost out.”

                                                                      UNISON member, Counting the cost survey

Youth services

Youth services play a vital role in many young people’s lives, providing many with opportunities they would otherwise not get anywhere else. They help young people find employment, get qualifications, and play positive roles in their communities, and they have a real impact in preventing crime, anti-social behaviour, substance abuse and mental health problems.

A UNISON Freedom of Information request issued to UK councils in October 2013 asked a range of questions about spending on youth services, and changes in service provision. 168 local authorities responded.[5]

The FOI asked local authorities about their youth service budgets in recent years.

• 73% had cut youth service spending between 2012 and 2014.
• £60m was cut from councils’ spending on youth services between 2011/12 and 2013/14. Earlier UNISON research had found that youth service spending by councils was cut by £62m in 2010/11 and a further £137m in 2011/12. This adds up to a £259m cut in youth service spending over the four years from 2010.

The FOI also asked local authorities about service provision and employment changes in youth services in recent years.

• More than 2000 jobs were lost between 2011/12 and 2013/14 (1300 or more part-time roles and more than 700 full-time roles)
• Around 350 youth centres have closed
• 41,000 youth service places for young people have been lost
• At least 35,000 hours of outreach work by youth workers have been removed.

Parks and open spaces

Parks are among the most universally used and valued public services, but there are no statutory requirements governing their provision or maintenance. As a result local authorities have implemented major cuts to parks provision to cope with central government funding cuts, even though this comes at the price of the social, physical and mental health benefits parks provide.

UNISON research based on 2014 Freedom of Information returns from local authorities shows that:

• £59.4m has been cut from council budgets for parks and open spaces since 2010

• 60% of women responding to UNISON’s survey[6] who use parks and open spaces said that services had got worse over the past year. The top three issues were:

• Fewer staff (65%)
• Shorter opening/operating hours (54%)
• Old equipment/facilities (42%)

Research by the Heritage Lottery Fund[7]showed that:

• Some 68% of park users consider spending time in their local park important or essential to their quality of life

•                  81% of council parks departments in the UK have lost skilled staff since 2010

•                  86% have cut budgets

•                  45% of councils are considering selling or outsourcing their parks

“Our local park is a disgrace - equipment that has been broken has not been replaced and the staff maintaining the park and surrounding areas are now no longer there. I will not take my children there… as I do not feel safe.”

UNISON member, Counting the cost survey

Sports and leisure

New figures from Sport England[8] show record numbers of people are playing sport – and the largest growth has been among young people. But cuts to local facilities mean in future many youngsters will have to miss out.

UNISON research based on 2014 Freedom of Information returns from local authorities shows that:

• Councils have cut over £71m from leisure centre budgets since 2010, a 14% cut overall.

• 62% of women responding to UNISON’s survey[9] who use local leisure services said that they had got worse over the past year. The top four issues were:
• Fewer staff (65%)
• Shorter opening/operating hours (55%)
• Old equipment/facilities (43%)
• Fee increases (42%).

Research from the British Heart Foundation[10] found that

• NHS providers in England spent over £900 million in 2009/10 treating people with diseases that could have been prevented if more people were physically active.

“Unable to use facilities as much - for example my children used to be able to go swimming for free - they would go as often as possible. Now they have to pay so are not able to go. Obviously their fitness and health is suffering due to the cuts.”

“Swimming lessons/sessions cancelled for weeks when part of the ventilation system fell into the pool. It appears that regular inspections/maintenance have not been carried out due to cuts.”

UNISON members, Counting the cost survey

Libraries

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act. The Act provides that: “It shall be the duty of every library authority to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service for all persons desiring to make use thereof”. However, closures, outsourcing and handing over to volunteers mean many councils will struggle to comply with this provision.

UNISON research based on 2014 Freedom of Information returns from local authorities shows that:

• Councils have cut almost one fifth of library budgets (nearly £135m) since 2010

• 65% of women of women responding to UNISON’s survey[11] who use libraries said that services had got worse. The top three issues were:
• Fewer staff : 69%
• Shorter opening/operating hours: 59%
• Old equipment/facilities: 41%

“Reduced access to the library has had an impact on the way I interact with my children (we used to do our homework there)…I got a sense of how they are doing in school and get to help them with anything they are struggling with in a focused way that doesn’t happen at home”

UNISON member, Counting the cost survey

Street-lighting

Good street-lighting is vital to ensuring local places are safe at night.  This is of particular importance to support access to shift-work, as well as social and community life, and road safety.

Soaring energy costs mean that despite increasing spending on street-lighting, more and more councils are having to leave their communities in the dark.

UNISON research based on 2014 Freedom of Information returns from local authorities shows that:

• Prior to 2010/11, only 122,369 lights in Great Britain were switched off or dimmed overnight. By 2013/14 the number had increased by over 1 million to 1.1m – an increase of 829% in just three years.
• 21% of all street lights in Great Britain were switched off or dimmed overnight in 2013/14.
• 48 councils said they had conducted Equality Impact Assessments on changes to street lighting policy since 2010. Of these, only seven councils specifically identified women as a group that might be disproportionately affected by these changes. And only four had taken action to mitigate any impact. These actions included working with residents to develop criteria for where lights would be switched off, and not using part-night lighting in areas with high night-time traffic or above average crime rates.
• Some councils have taken decisions to switch off or dim lights as part of environmental strategies to reduce energy use. But for many others cost-cutting has been the primary driver.

Research from elsewhere shows that:

• Road casualties have risen by 20% and 324 more people were killed or seriously injured in the past four years in areas where street-lights had been turned off.[12]

• Night-time road accidents have fallen by 15.6% in the last five years where roads are lit, but have only fallen by 2% on dark roads[13]

“Street lights have been turned off in my neighbourhood overnight and there has been an increase in crime since then.”

UNISON member, Counting the cost survey

Domestic violence services

Local authorities are major funders of domestic violence services, either through grants or through commissioned services. Cuts to local authority funding have caused a decrease in provision for domestic violence support with serious consequences for thousands of women and children who can no longer access the help they need.

Research from domestic violence services and others shows that:

• In the first two financial years of this parliament, there was a 31% cut in funding to the domestic violence and sexual abuse sector[14]
• In 2013, an average of 155 women and their 103 children were turned away from refuges each day because there wasn’t enough space[15]
• England is over 1,500 places short of the recommended level of refuge provision for women who have experienced violence[16]
• 32 specialist refuge services have closed since 2010 and 112 specialist posts have been lost[17]
• 15% of support services for children who have experienced domestic violence closed between 2010 and 2013[18]
• In England, domestic violence costs the state £5.5bn a year in health, criminal justice, housing and social services, legal costs and lost economic output[19]

"Main issue I have is decline in support and funding for women centred services like domestic violence. [My council] is currently planning to re-tender services and close refuges with what looks like no real knowledge of how these services work."

UNISON member, Counting the cost survey

UNISON’s alternative: securing the future of our local services

UNISON wants to see immediate steps to save the vital services that local communities need to help them lead safe, healthy and fulfilled lives:

1.     An immediate reassessment of how local government finance is distributed so that it matches local need

2. New sources of funding to run vital community assets like parks, libraries and youth services, and for vital protection services like trading standards and environmental health:

1. Tough measures to tackle tax evasion and uncollected taxes
2. Greater freedoms for councils to borrow
3. Introduction of empty property and brownfield land taxes
4. Introduction of a mansion tax on high value properties
5. Powers for local authorities to introduce small local taxes such as tourism or environmental taxes

3. Enforceable statutory duties to provide comprehensive services backed up by clear standards of service which ensure quality and sufficiency

4. Fair and equal pay for local authority workers underpinned by continuing training and development

5. An annual national audit of the impact of local spending decisions on women. This would support local authorities to identify key services and work with central government to avoid making cuts that disproportionately affect women and other protected groups.

25 November 2014