Coventry Workers Strike To Defend Pensions

Here is an article by Sam Dimmer and Tina Junday for the Coventry Telegraph covering the public sector strike in Coventry over pension reforms and the police protest over cuts:


MORE than 300 Coventry police officers joined a huge protest in London against government cuts.

Six coachloads of staff were joined by family, friends and retired former colleagues for the march in the capital.

West Midlands Police is being forced to save £126million over four years – with some senior officers claiming that the public will not be affected by the cuts.

But people taking part in the protest yesterday said that simply wasn’t true with one officer claiming that the force has been unable to respond to 999 calls because of staff shortages.

Pc Mick Ball, from Coventry, who represents constables for West Midlands Police Federation, said the cuts were like “body blows” to the force.

“We keep getting hit and eventually we’re going to get floored,” he said. “These cuts are having a massive effect on everybody.

“We want to do our best but these changes are creating a huge amount of stress.

“Morale is at rock bottom.

“Good officers are being forced to retire and we are not recruiting so they are not being replaced.

“Not only does it affect your professional life, it affects your family life.

“We’re so overworked that we end up taking the stress home with us.

“I work on response and it’s fair to say we are definitely feeling the pinch.

“We are doing a lot more work for the same pay.

“All we want to do is our best for the public.”

One officer told the Telegraph that budget cutbacks and forced redundancies – under regulation a19 that allows police to be forced out after 30 years service – had left them struggling to cope in the evenings and at weekends.

Another, who declined to be named, said many of the cuts were being made ‘by stealth’ and staff had been unable to find out what was happening.

One response officer in Coventry said: “We are routinely struggling to get to jobs at night, there just are not the crews to cope with the demand.

“We all fear it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt, or worse, as a result.”

Police from Coventry met at 7am at Broad Street RFC before travelling to London in convoy with other coaches from the West Midlands.

Coventry Police Commander Andy Nicholson waved off the marchers in person.

Pc Ball added: “It meant a lot to have him there. I know everyone genuinely appreciated it. And without the help of the rugby club it would have been extremely difficult to arrange, so thanks to them.

“In the long run, when these cuts really dig in, it’s going to get an awful lot worse.

“It will have a massive impact on how we serve the public and it was important we showed that today.”

Police are unable to strike and everyone involved yesterday had either booked holiday or was on a rest day.

All 43 forces were represented on the march, with 3,000 taking part from West Midlands Police.

As well as the 300 Coventry police officers, organisers estimate that another 100 officers were unable to attend because of work or family commitments.

Some 16,000 police – the number expected to lose their jobs nationally as a result of cuts – were expected to attend but other estimates suggest that nearly twice as many took part.

Officers were also protesting against changes to pensions, pay and conditions.

West Midlands Police declined to comment but president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Sir Hugh Orde said: “Chief officers fully appreciate how strongly staff feel about the budget cuts to policing and the changes to their pay and pensions.

“Forces have had to make painful decisions to reduce the number of staff and make major changes to produce the required savings.”

Public sector workers on the picket line in pensions dispute

FED-UP workers in Coventry and Warwickshire joined a national strike yesterday in a bitter row over pension reforms.

Civil servants, lecturers and NHS staff took strike action at customs and revenue offices, courts, job centres and Coventry University.

Staff at Nuneaton’s George Eliot Hospital also took action. The hospital provided an emergency service while clinics, operations and blood tests operated as normal.

Unions say their members will be working longer and paying more for a smaller pension rather than the current arrangement based on their final salary.

Among the strikers were 300 PCS union members who held a picket line outside HM Revenue and Customs, at Sherbourne House, Manor House Drive, Coventry city centre.

The office remained open with skeleton staff, as pickets stood out in protest.

One admin worker, Pat Cowling, aged 44, who has worked at the city office for 10 years, said: “I will have to work until I’m 68 – that’s eight years longer than I
expected. Not only that we will receive less of our pension – it’s what we have worked hard for. It’s for our future.

“My partner works for DWP and has the same issues. We have to pick up the burden to save money for our failed economy. I’m still on the same wage I was three years ago while the cost of living goes up – it’s getting worse. It’s upsetting the public sector and damaging services.”

Ian Hough, aged 50, who works as a compliance officer, said: “It’s not just our work pension, it’s our state pension age.

“We’re short of staff with bigger workloads and will have to work when we’re a lot older.”

The walkout follows last November’s huge stoppage by more than one and a half million public sector workers across the UK in protest at the changes to their pensions.

More than 400 PCS members also walked out from Job Centre Plus, in Cofa Court, Cheylesmore.

Customer service officers John Ainslie and Carol Dunne were among a dozen workers who stood outside the office.

Carol, aged 53, said: “Taking most of our pension away is robbery.

“It’s effectively a pay cut for us. When I started working, the retirement age was 60 – now I will be spending many more years at work and my pension has been reduced.

“We’re having to do more for much less.

She added: “I would hope we can make a difference – we’ve got to keep up the fight.”

Matt Price, PCS regional branch secretary, said: “There has no constructive negotiations at all – we’re not having it.”

400,000 took part in action, say unions

NATIONALLY around 400,000 workers were estimated by unions to have taken part in yesterday’s action.

They included members of the Prison Officers Association, who were instructed to provide only minimum cover “to preserve health and safety” within jails in England and Wales from 7am. Staff returned to work by mid afternoon.

Work on Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships in port in Birkenhead and Portland halted, according to the Rail Maritime and Transport union, while pickets were outside the headquarters of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in Southampton.

Seven national museums were affected by the action, with the Tate Gallery in Liverpool and the National Museum for Wales closed completely, according to the Public and Commercial Services Union, the largest civil service trade union.

Unions taking part were the PCS; Unite, representing NHS workers, Ministry of Defence firefighters and others; the University and College Union; the Immigration Services Union; Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union members in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, and the Northern Ireland Public Services Alliance.

*Source: Coventry Telegraph

Foleshill Residents March To Save Their Leisure Centre

Local newspaper reporter, Cara Simpson has written this article for the Coventry Telegraph about the protest march on Saturday.......

VOCAL protesters marched through Coventry with the message “save our leisure centre” at the weekend.

Armed with a petition bearing nearly 10,000 signatures and dozens of placards, more than 100 campaigners fighting the closure of Foleshill Sports Centre marched from Foleshill to the Council House on Saturday.

People of all ages and backgrounds joined the demonstration, united by their passion for the Livingstone Road baths which is under threat.

The council plans to close the centre and invest £8million in new swimming pools at the AT7 Centre, in Bell Green, a mile away.

Residents have reacted with anger, saying it would be a huge loss to the community after serving generations of families since the 1930s.

Jay Alam, 40, of Lythalls Lane, said: “The centre is the only facility in Foleshill that brings everyone together. The AT7 isn’t as accessible. It won’t have the same community feel.”

Dad Imtyaz Maqsood, 39, of Holmsdate Road, added: “It’s at the heart of Foleshill and at the heart of Edgwick. They should invest in what we’ve already got. It would save money.”

His daughters Aliza, seven, and Maria, eight, joined the protest which left from Edgwick Park in Foleshill Road.

Aliza said: “I like going swimming there and would be upset if it closed. That’s why I’m going on the march.”

Councillor Dave Nellist (Soc, St Michael’s) was also at the demonstration.

“I’ve got a personal interest – my kids used to swim there,” he said.

“I’m supporting them because while I’m not against new sports facilities in Coventry if they developed the AT7 centre it would serve a different type of people. I think we should keep what we’ve got.”

William Bromwich, campaign organiser, led the march as it weaved down Foleshill Road, through Lady Herbert’s Garden and Hales Street to the Council House in Earl Street where the petition was presented.

He said: “We are adamant that the council shouldn’t take the sports centre away from Foleshill.

“Foleshill has the highest mortality rate in the city, that’s why it needs a leisure centre.”

During the gathering at Edgwick Park, Mr Bromwich also announced he will stand in the forthcoming council elections as an independent councillor for Foleshill. “I feel I could do a better job than our representatives,” he said.

“I was born in Foleshill, went to school in Foleshill. I know the people of Foleshill and honestly feel let down by our present ward councillors.

“When I say that I speak on behalf of the 10,000 people who signed the petition. “I learnd to swim at the baths and took my own children there.

“If they take the leisure centre away the next generation of my family will lose the facilities.”

Twiggy Scott, chair of Webdale Residents’ Association in Foleshill, said they would take their fight all the way to the Olympics.

She said: “We’ll protest at the Ricoh Arena during the Olympics if we have to – let the world know what we’re going through and why because we’re proud of what we’ve got.”

Protestors accused Labour councillors of failing to stand up for the community on the issue.

Foleshill Labour councillor Coun Abdul Khan, also speaking on behalf of fellow Labour councillors for the ward – Coun Malkiat Singh Auluck and Coun Tariq Khan who were also present – said: “We are here because we support the campaign.

"A decision hasn’t yet been made and there is to be a consultation. We are against it and will do what we can to keep the centre open.”

*Source: Coventry Telegraph/ Cara Simpson

Foleshill Community Need Your Support

Coventry Against The Cuts: Next Meeting - April 4th 2012

We will be meeting at 7.15pm at KOCO Building in Spon End, Coventry and would love you to come along and discuss what is going on across the city and how we can campaign against the cuts!

 Will having an elected mayor make any difference? Budget tax cuts which see the richest gain whilst the rest of us pay!

 Housing Benefit cuts set to bite

 With proposed cuts of over £2 billion to housing benefit over the next few years, the majority of claimants will find themselves worse off. As housing benefit rates drop further away from actual rents, tenants will have to make up more of the shortfall themselves or find cheaper accommodation elsewhere. This will lead to an increase in rent arrears, debt and homelessness with some of the most vulnerable people being hit the hardest.

 Welfare cuts hit -

 The Hardest Hit Fight Back -Disabled people, those with long-term conditions and their families are being hit hard by cuts to the benefits and services they need to live their lives. The Hardest Hit campaign, organised jointly by the Disability Benefits Consortium (DBC) and the UK Disabled People’s Council, brings together individuals and organisations to send a clear message to the Government: stop these cuts. Unemployment increasing whilst economy even worse than expected.

 Scandal of Workfare and the discredited government advisers. Young people being exploited by big companies.

 Better than all the Rest!!

 Coventry City Council wins national cuts award "The Council's success in delivering nearly £30million of savings a year through its ABC - a better Council for a bolder Coventry - transformation programme, working in partnership with PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC), was singled out for praise in the awards.

Judges praised the significant efficiency savings, service improvements, skills development and organisational change achieved through the programme, which involves council staff working alongside PwC staff to identify more efficient and effective ways of working." Coventry City Council web site.

 Housing shortage- recent figures in the Coventry Telegraph demonstrate just how difficult it is for families to find decent affordable housing

Coventry Housing Crisis Deepens

The following report by Les Reid in the Coventry Telegraph (02/04/12) highlights the increasing problem facing many people in Coventry. Thousands are waiting to get a home, but the housing crisis is about to deepen as this article explains........

AN astonishing 752 families applied to rent a modest three-bedroomed house in Coventry recently – as new figures revealed the full extent of the city’s social housing crisis.

The applications for the house in Radford is being held up as an example of the chronic shortage of suitable family homes in the city.

And one couple has just been re-housed after a staggering 38 years on the waiting list, it has emerged.

The anonymous couple – who first registered for social housing in January 1974 – faced the longest wait among individuals or families who were finally housed last year.

The average wait for families who eventually landed a home in 2011 was 790 days – or two years and two months.

The Coventry City Council statistics, supplied to Socialist councillor Dave Nellist, also reveal social housing properties available has fallen by 8.5 per cent since 1999 to 23,700 – even though the number for all city homes rose by 5.3 per cent to 133,000.

In 2000, Coventry’s council housing stock was sold to non-profit housing association Whitefriars, still the city’s largest social housing provider.

Coventry people registered for social housing on the Homefinder system rocketed by a third last year and now stands at 23,300.

National social housing shortages have worsened since the credit crunch and economic downturn – and housebuilding has dramatically slowed in Coventry to just 850 a year.

The council’s preferred option of building 12,000 new homes by 2028 to protect the green belt would continue that rate – potentially continuing the pressure of social housing.

Unemployment rising to nine per cent in Coventry, and the squeeze on living standards, has seen a rise in people unable to pay rent or mortgages, and seeking debt advice.

Leading Labour city councillor, housing cabinet member Tony Skipper, said government funding cuts for social housing had added to the problem: “Tackling the problem of social housing without houses is like tackling unemployment without jobs.”

He said problems were particularly acute for families needing three and four bedroom homes – and those made homeless and in priority need are being given emergency accommodation in hotels.

Coun Skipper revealed of 659 families registered on the Homefinder waiting list, only 31 were successful in 2011.

His Labour colleague, councillor Dave Chater, warned the problem could be exacerbated by government Housing Benefit cuts in London – because families there were being forced to relocate into the regions.

As this newspaper has reported, the council says thousands of the 23,300 individuals, couples or families on the Homefinder register are not classed as being in need of housing, and anyone can sign on the register.

Coun Skipper said the waiting time statistics – including the 38-year wait – did not indicate whether, in each case, families or individuals were in need or actively searching for the entire period of registration.

He said 38 per cent of households registered with Homefinder made no bid for properties for a year.

But he added: “I’m staggered at the number of years it took this person.”

Coun Nellist also pointed to 166 bids for every two-bedroom property made available.

He said: “There is a need for family homes that are affordable in the social rented sector so we can offer homes far sooner than these figures show.”

He has campaigned for social housing to be returning to council ownership, and for huge new public investment.

He said leaving housing supply to the market meant developers quest for profits had prevented them building enough less lucrative social housing to meet people’s needs.

*Source: Coventry Telegraph/ Les Reid

Coventry Council Waste Almost £9m Working Out Where To Cut Budgets

Coventry City Labour led Council have so far wasted almost £9m of taxpayers money on Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC), the consultancy firm hired by the council to work out how to save money. This is not an April Fool's story, this is genuine - as reported by Les Reid in the Coventry Telegraph today:

The Telegraph can reveal the total bill on consultancy fees to Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), to help identify where the cuts axe should fall, has risen to £8.8million so far.

The global accountancy firm has been hired by Coventry City Council to help it find multi-million pound budget cuts.

The council is expected to cut 1,000 jobs and £140million from its budget by 2015 – with the government cutting its funding by a quarter.

Following our request for detailed information on payouts to PwC over five years of its work, council leaders insisted it was delivering “value for money”.

They say “partnership” work between the council and PwC had already identified savings to taxpayers worth four times the payout in fees to PwC.

The council’s Labour leaders maintain PwC’s expertise is needed to fill the gaps in council bosses’ own knowledge and capabilities.

Council leader John Mutton claimed the firm’s work to find savings had helped the council protect frontline services and jobs.

But opposition councillors including Socialist councillor Dave Nellist have questioned why highly-paid council executives cannot do the work themselves.

One council whistleblower told the Telegraph about payouts to PwC for advice on finding savings in the deficit-hit children’s department.

PwC worked with council managers on a Fundamental Service Review of the children’s department, which was £4.2million in the red last year.

The review recommended some job post cuts and closing six children’s centres – and identified potentially £7million savings with measures to cut the rising number of children in care.

They include increasing the number of adopted children, and boosting “early intervention” work to tackle problems early-on in vulnerable families where children might be ‘at risk’.

The whistleblower alleged: “There are rumours going around the directorate that to date the charge from PwC had amounted to £3million.

"If this is true it is nothing short of a scandal.

“To spend such an amount on external consultants at a time when the council are reducing their employee numbers is beyond reason.”

The council said the payout to PwC for advice in its Children, Learning and Young People’s department (CLYP) is expected to be a one-off £1.3million - compared with £7million annual savings.

The £8.8million payout so far includes £7.9million for PwC’s work supporting the council’s ongoing “ABC programme” of service reviews seeking to identify savings across all departments – led by council chief executive Martin Reeves, whose total earnings are £215,000 a year.

The council estimates work so far will deliver ongoing savings of £29.7million.

A spokesman said: “The delivery of these savings from the ABC programme is a crucial component of the city council’s response to the finance challenge it faces at the present time, and in the medium term.


“There may be further PwC fees incurred if they support the council to undertake further reviews of services.

“At this time, these reviews have not been agreed and neither forecast fees, nor forecast savings, have been included in these totals.

“PwC’s involvement will reduce over time as the council becomes more equipped to deal itself with how these savings are delivered.”

The remaining £900,000 was spent on PwC work before 2010, which identified £3.1million savings in reclaiming VAT from the government.

The £8.8million in PwC fees compares with an estimated £6million reported in this newspaper in July 2010.

Council leader John Mutton said: “Some ABC work is done by our own staff, and with other work we utilise PwC’s experience.

“We would not have been able to protect frontline services and maintain the number of posts we have done without the work PwC has done for us.

“We’re well aware of projections for further cuts from national government and we’ll have to look for more savings, so I can see this kind of ABC work continuing for a couple of years yet.

“As long as we can identify savings more than the cost to PwC it makes sense to keep the partnership going.”

Source: Coventry Telegraph/ Les Reid