Public sector ‘privatisation’ agenda should be first in line for
budget ‘efficiency’ cuts
22nd April 2009
The costly, creeping privatisation of the public sector,
particularly the NHS, should be the first candidate for the
so-called ‘efficiency savings’ announced in today’s
(Wednesday,
22 April) budget.
Unite, the largest union in the country, is concerned that the
privatisation agenda, opening ever wider the door to private
companies, is draining resources from public services.
Unite said that all public sector services were taking ‘a hit’
because of the budget announcement, for example, the Department of
Health (DH) said it was contributing £2.3bn in additional savings,
as part of £5bn efficiencies in spending across the public sector
in 2010/11.
Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail said: “No area
of the public sector - education, health and local government -
will be spared these ‘efficiency’ savings. It doesn’t make sense to
curb budgets as people hit by the recession need public services
all the more.
“We are seriously concerned by the costs of privatisation. The
NHS is the most obvious example where the privatisation agenda has
been aggressively promoted by private healthcare companies.
“The first candidate for ‘efficiency savings’ should be these
misguided excursions into privatisation in all its guises.”
ENDS
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