The current spat between Labour and the Tories over which will be bringing in more cuts in public services after 2010, and whether they will be 7%, 10% or 15% is conducted, as usual, in that unreal ether known as national politics. In this make-believe world, where the electorate must never be upset, the word ‘cuts' is deemed too sensitive. Politicians swap euphemisms about how they will handle the public sector deficit as if it will simply be a matter of cutting councillors' biscuit allowances. In the real world, public sector managers have already factored in grant cuts and are preparing for worst-case scenarios. The pages of The MJ and the agendas of numerous conferences are filled with the dire warnings of looming funding crises, post-2010. The more savvy chief executives are grasping the ‘Total place' agenda or seeking genuine strategic partnerships such as the Buckinghamshire two-tier pathfinder. There is general acceptance that back-office costs – for which, read staff – must be cut, that there should be more pan-public sector management teams and that serious savings must be made. The CIPD this week predicted 350,000 job cuts in the next five years. The real debate that should, therefore, be occurring among national politicians is not whether or not there will be ‘cuts' but the extent that public finances can be restored without crippling a fragile economy just emerging from a recession. Whatever the views of such lobbyists as the Taxpayers' Alliance, councils and the rest of the public sector are generally the biggest employers in their areas, a huge resource to local businesses and the economy. In the case of poorer areas, their impact is even greater. If these public sector engines of employment stutter, if jobs and spending are cut, then the consequence is that many areas, emerging from the recession, face being knocked back down again. National politicians need to be asked, not whether their government will make cuts because we know anyone in Number 10 this time next year will do just that, but how they will judge that these cuts do not cause another dip in the economy. That is the real world. Michael Burton, Editor, The MJ
