Tough times

Paul Barltrop The Politics Show BBC West

Local authorities are struggling with falling income and rising costs.

No one favours big council tax rises, so they are making cuts in services.

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The council cuts in Somerset… should the public sector shrink or grow during a recession?

Many are elderly; some are disabled; a few are convalescing. But all are angry.

"How on earth they would manage, how I would manage, I do not know," declares Shirley Davis.

"I think most of us would have to stay at home."

She is one of 5,000 people who use Shopmobility scooters and wheelchairs to get around the stores in the Somerset town of Street.

The local council, Mendip, may withdraw its funding for the scheme. Steve Male, who runs the service, is gathering a petition.

Shirley Davis: Upset

"I have gone through feeling angry, upset, and I still feel stunned," he says.

Spending cuts

"There's no way round this, it's tough times, and we're making tough decisions," says Harvey Siggs, Mendip's Conservative leader.

He catalogues the causes: limited government funding, the high costs of things like bus passes for pensioners, and falling income from developers hit by the housing slump.

Harvey Siggs: we're making tough decisions

Mendip hope Shopmobility can be saved - if someone else steps in to fund it.

There is less hope for staff facing the chop. Thirty-eight posts are being removed; there will be redundancies at all levels.

"Yes we're grasping the nettle, and it goes right to the top, we're removing directors' posts," states Councillor Siggs.

Job losses

It is a similar situation across the West as councils set their budgets.

Council job cuts Somerset - 80 Gloucestershire - 40 Swindon - 50 Wiltshire - 300 Total - 470

District councils elsewhere in Somerset and Gloucestershire are cutting dozens of posts. Fifty are going in Swindon.

In Wiltshire the creation of a unitary authority means the loss of 300 jobs.

Opposition

Unions are supporting staff, but realise there are bigger forces at play.

"It's very worrying, we were quite shocked at the amount of deficit we were facing," says the Unison rep at Mendip, Keith Bush.

"The current economic situation that we're all facing has impacted on that, it started bad and is getting worse."

Keith Bush: shocking deficit

There is much anger; political opponents criticise the way the cuts are being made.

"Staff morale is extremely low, and when you know that your job is under threat, with the current climate that we have, it's extremely worrying," says Liberal Democrat Danny Unwin.

All fear for the future.

The recession is hurting - no one expects a big increase in government funding for councils.

Watch the Politics Show West on Sundays at 1200 GMT on BBC One (or watch again on the BBC iPlayer).

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