I'm going to lose my job. I suppose I'm doing a little bit more than Dave is then? Does that qualify me and the 600+ others for some special kind of award? Perhaps the Cameron Cross? A medal given to people who are going above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that the budget deficit is slashed?
I have to be careful. I don't really want to be seen saying anything that's critical of my employer. I don't want to be seen suggesting that if they raised council tax by 3% - that's less than £3 a week - it could save a lot of misery. I suppose its better that me and 600+ other people becoming unemployed and trying to find a job in a non-existent job market, than raise council taxes. Council taxes that are still the lowest in the country. Its much better to continue to slash services, just so we don't have to pay out more...
The sad truth is that the 600+ NCC employees who are going to be facing a very bleak 2011 are not the only ones. rumour has it that NBC is going to be cutting at least 250 jobs. Then you have all of those organisations like the YMCA, English Churches Housing and the Mayday Trust who are going to have their budgets slashed and subsequently won't just be making people unemployed, but also will be turfing the formerly homeless back out onto the streets. All the while, people who live in Weston Favell, Boughton, and richer parts of the town will be horrified that there's so many wastrels and unemployed spongers on the streets. It's enough to make you want to start a revolution.
In reality, we're going to see over 1000 people enter the job market between January and April 2011. There isn't going to be 1000 jobs for these people to take and less than 1% of them are going to be earning the same as they are now. The spending power of these 1000 people is going to be decimated and this is going to hit other areas of the local economy; which, in turn will raise prices or cut back on services. If you'll excuse my French, but I think a lot of us are going to be well and truly fucked.
I try to do the figures that the government are throwing at us and all that I come up with is misery. Actually, what I come up with is Misery, with a capital M. I don't think there is enough confidence in the private sector to start new businesses. I can't see where money is going to come from to start anything related to social care or youth work. The council don't have any spare money to throw at projects and neither does the government, so unless we start charging kids for their education or their rehabilitation, then nothing is going to fill the void. Yet again, a Tory led government is sticking two fingers up at the future of the country.
I spoke with someone who is having to deliver all the bad news; he said, quite honestly that things will never return to how they are now. There will never be enough money to invest in people again. there will never be youth services; there will not be assistant social workers, there will be no jobs created in a few years, even if we get out of this current malaise. Once councils - all councils - manage to run with bugger all people working for them, they will stay that way. Maybe, at some point in the future, there might be government money to start up projects for the youth of that day; but nothing will ever be the same again.
Welcome to the Scared New World. You have to be afraid because optimism will not be tolerated.
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