Public sector workers can expect more of the same: Chancellor
9:07am Thursday 21st March 2013 in News
HUNDREDS of public sector workers across Bolton walked out on strike over cuts to jobs, pay and pensions — as Chancellor George Osborne announced there will be more to come.
More than 500 Bolton civil servants downed tools and manned picket lines yesterday as part of a national day of industrial action by the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union.
Bolton Crown Court, the Department for Work and Pensions disability assessment centre at Elizabeth House, Bolton and Farnworth Jobcentres, and the driving test centre in Weston Street were hit by the 24-hour national strike.
It came as the Chancellor delivered his Budget, and revealed the country’s growth forecast for this year had been halved from 1.2 per cent to 0.6 per cent, and that there would be £11.5 billion of further cuts earmarked in his 2015-16 spending review.
Mr Osborne announced an extra £3 billion a year in infrastructure spending from 2015 to 2020 — including the construction of 15,000 new “affordable” homes — to stimulate the economy, but that some of the money would come from more public sector cuts.
He said public sector pay increases would be capped at one per cent in 2015-16, and that over the next two years most government departments would see a one per cent spending cut — except for schools and the NHS.
But he also announced the three per cent rise on fuel duty, which had been planned for September, would be scrapped, and that the annual two per cent above-inflation “beer escalator” tax was also being axed.
From Sunday, beer duty will also be cut by one per cent.
Personal tax allowance will also be raised to £10,000 from next year, not from 2015 as originally planned, meaning workers will be able to earn £10,000 before they start paying income tax.
Mr Osborne unveiled a new “help-to-buy” scheme, meaning if someone puts down a five per cent deposit on a new build property, the government will offer a 20 per cent loan, which would be repaid when the house was sold.
He said a mortgage guarantee scheme would also help lenders provide loans to people without deposits.
Peter Middleman, PCS North West Regional Secretary, said: “The strikes were very well supported but the budget just confirmed our worst fears.
“In terms of more cuts, all the low-hanging fruit was picked off years ago so how he can find more savings without harming front line services is anybody’s guess.
“The medicine has been killing the patient for several years now, our members are hurting and they’re not spending money on goods and services.”
David Crausby, MP for Bolton North East, added: “He spoke for an hour saying what he would do in future years but not what he would do immediately.
“The penny off a pint is welcome but it’s not much in the grand scheme of things and just something he dropped into a very dull budget.”
But David Greenhalgh, leader of Bolton’s Conservative group, welcomed news of the £10,000 personal allowance being brought forward as well as plans to build more homes.
He said: “This is a budget that supports people who want to work hard and aspire but will encourage growth without increasing borrowing, which is what Labour wanted us to do.”
Bolton South East MP Yasmin Qureshi, claimed the government was “trying to dig a bigger hole” between what it deemed to be the “deserving and non-deserving poor”.
She said: “The thing about buying a house is it’s for people who’ve got a decent income, but what about the people who are unemployed?
“What about the disabled, the young and the vulnerable?
“There was nothing in this budget for them.”
Roger Hayes, leader of Bolton Liberal Democrats, said: “I’m pleased they’ve taken forward two of our policies, bringing forward the income tax threshold and single persons’ pensions.
“I’m pleased about the house building and support for new housing, but am disappointed there’s nothing in there for new social housing.”
Bolton West MP Julie Hilling said: “This is a budget of cuts today and jam tomorrow — after the next General Election.
“Once again the Chancellor is promising high and delivering low.
“He still has no answer to a flatlining economy, one million unemployed young people and ever-squeezed hard working families.
“Yet he is still going ahead with his tax cuts to millionaires.”
Bolton Unison branch chairman Matt Kilsby said: “Osborne is out of ideas and should be out of a job.
“The economy is in crisis and yet he refuses to halt the Tories’ vicious cuts agenda that is wreaking havoc on our public services and throwing hundreds of thousands of workers onto the dole.”
Comments are closed on this article.

Comments (23)
9:56am Thu 21 Mar 13
William2701 says...
Let us remeber that this recession started under Gordon Brown- the "no more boom and bust" Chancellor who when promising that forgot to add that HIS policies would actually lead to no more boom. The financial watchdogs were warning of black holes in Brown's budgets as far back as 2003.
Labour bankrupted this country and we are now all having to pay for it.
10:28am Thu 21 Mar 13
liquoricet says...
10:47am Thu 21 Mar 13
thealexweb says...
11:20am Thu 21 Mar 13
cliff4treasurer says...
I voted labour all my life but the last labour government destroyed this country for years to come and if it ever gets better it won't be done under a labour government.
What do you think a labour government would do about the Romainian influx given there track record?
They certainly wouldn't be looking at ways to stop the mass immigration from there next year and don't fool yourself into thinking it won't happen it will.
It would be more strain on our health service,schools,bene
fits system etc and claims for "overseas children" nodded through by the last lot.
No,i don't like the cuts to services and jobs either but don't blame the tories they are trying to sort it out but also making mistakes ,who wouldn't given the sh** we are in.The council staff should consider themselves fortunate ,the ones still in work that is,but we should also remember it's the unions that drove up the living standards for all, including the private sector, so don't knock them too much either ,although they had some lemmings in the past leading them,Scargill,Red Ken etc.
1:00pm Thu 21 Mar 13
boltonnut says...
2:54pm Thu 21 Mar 13
Tim Burr says...
Having a photo of a smiling poor, hard done by public sector leech is a brilliant piece of propaganda against these 'workers' actions by the Bolton News, well done you!!
3:26pm Thu 21 Mar 13
buckfuzzby says...
This is just another case of "do as I say, not do as I do" very typical of this government.
5:08pm Thu 21 Mar 13
Ihatemyfellowneighbours says...
5:11pm Thu 21 Mar 13
Ihatemyfellowneighbours says...
5:16pm Thu 21 Mar 13
katooo says...
5:45pm Thu 21 Mar 13
buckfuzzby says...
7:11pm Thu 21 Mar 13
bwfc58 says...
8:50pm Thu 21 Mar 13
Love Bolton says...
Surely the key is for house prices to normalise and then they become affordable by the average salaries?
Seems to me this is taking us into more risk and in particular those poor people starting on the housing ladder.
9:03pm Thu 21 Mar 13
Kaewyed says...
Cameron turned the Private workers against the Public Sector and it worked. it has caused Discontent in the Private Sector workers. These Pensions and Rights for Public workers have been fought for.and Agreed.
It's a case by Private workers, look what they get,I don't, so I will criticise All Public Workers.
Look, It's not their fault, It's the fault of your Mean and Uncaring Boss. If the Public Sector work is so well paid, Its' not, and the Pensions so good, Apply for a job. I don't rate your cahnces because Cameron has done away with thousands of jobs. 500 going at the Royal Bolton, as you know, just 1 Public Establishment.
9:14pm Thu 21 Mar 13
Citizen Cane says...
It's about time that swathes of the work-shy in the public sector were culled.
1:38am Fri 22 Mar 13
Reality50 says...
5:00am Fri 22 Mar 13
127001 says...
The UK has 650 members of parliament... yet in America (a country 40 times the size of the UK)... the equivalent 'parliament' has only 435...
Why does a town the size of Bolton need 60 councillors? There is so much waste in this country it's difficult to know where to start.
12:48pm Fri 22 Mar 13
myfanwy7 says...
4:17pm Fri 22 Mar 13
liquoricet says...
My current salary is about £8.5k (I'm part-time) and my 'gold plated pension' if I work at my library for another 20 years will be about £3.5k. Good thing I like my job!
12:58pm Sat 23 Mar 13
SmoggyDiasboro says...
1:25pm Sat 23 Mar 13
Kaewyed says...
My wife worked for the NHS for 31 yrs and paid a substantial amount Into her scheme. I can assure you her Pension is no way Gold Plated.
I agree the people at the top do get a very good pension but again the amount you pay each month is Salary Related.
8:10am Wed 27 Mar 13
Wigan Trotter says...
They are not all high payed Civil Servants
7:30pm Wed 27 Mar 13
BWFC71 says...
POLITICIANS ARE PUBLIC SERVICE WORKERS and yet they have given themselves a payrise, a bigger pension, subsidised bars at Palace of Westminster, allowances for renting accomodation and staff etc etc and yet they cripple the other public service workers and create a divide between normal everyday workers....
Provate sector should not be begrudging the public sector as both need each other as both will not survives being devisive as what the Government are trying, but EVERYONE should be mad, questioning, harassing teh politicians the MOST greediest public sector workers this country has!!!