Wiltshire Council cuts - "we could lose our homes"

Council employees have told this newspaper that the plan for “diabolical” cuts to terms and conditions will mean crisis teams leaving the council to work elsewhere and that the county’s most vulnerable people will suffer.

The informants, who have asked to remain anonymous, say that the council’s attempt to 'balance its budget,' would wreck their lives.

Responding to these concerns, Terence Herbert, chief executive of Wiltshire Council, said that no final decisions have been made. He stressed that salaries are not being cut - but rather "unsocial hours, overtime, standby and call-out" are being changed to create a "consistent approach" across the organisation.

READ MORE: Massive pay cuts planned by Wiltshire Council

One member of Wiltshire Council staff told us: “Some of my colleagues are due to lose over £7,000 a year this April. The cut to the 20 cent out of hours plussage is diabolical and means, on top of a pay freeze, rising National Insurance, council tax, energy cost hikes and mortgage increases, that some staff will be unable to keep their homes. It is serious.”

“Wiltshire Council wants to remove the 20 per cent allowance plussage and has wrapped the proposal up into a package with the pay freeze. Anyone who does not work out of hours will not know anything about how it is going to directly affect emergency staff much much, more than them.

“We are talking about highly-skilled and experienced staff who deal with emergency and crisis calls, assessments and crisis plans outside normal working hours. They work shifts covering 4.30 to 9pm, weekends and bank holidays. They only get the extra 20 per cent plussage on top of their basic wage for this, nothing else. Their basic pay is the same as daytime staff. 

“These staff in emergency duty services [EDS] make the final decision after someone is assessed by psychiatrists if they have a mental disorder of a nature and degree that warrants hospital admission. If someone is sectioned, they complete the application; they manage the risks and are accountable if anything goes wrong.

“Mental health cases in the community and assessments at Greenlane Hospital place of safety, have increased dramatically over the last two years. Mainly due to the pandemic but not solely.

“It is a similar situation to more people being homeless on the streets and contacting the EDS; carers not able to care for their loved ones due to sickness; and increased domestic violence.

"There are no agency staff available due to the shortage in paid carers. The EDS team have no more staff on a shift to reflect the increase in workload.

“If this proposal goes through colleagues will leave to join neighbouring authorities. The consequence will be that emergency and crisis work will suffer and lead to the most vulnerable and at risk groups in Wiltshire being directly affected.

“The EDS team are at the front of all this work. They save the council money because they are masters at managing crisis situations. But if they quit, the council will be forced to employ locum workers again - they were paying millions to locum workers two years ago and they will receive double the staff’s pay and like before, refuse to work at night.

“They will not quit because they want to. Like nurses, most of them came into this profession because they care, want to work with people and children to improve their situations and guide them through crisis points in their lives.

“However, to be able to carry on the work that they are passionate about, they need to safeguard our own futures.”

Wiltshire Council chief Terence Herbert

A Wiltshire Council spokesman said the £10 million savings required would not just come from the proposed changes to terms and conditions – if agreed, this will save £2.1 million. The rest is coming from vacancies and managing recruitment

When Terence Herbert, chief executive of Wiltshire Council, announced the proposals on Wednesday he said they are an attempt to save jobs.

Following these latest claims from staff, Mr Herbert added: “We appreciate the strength of feeling of these proposals, and while it wouldn’t be appropriate to go into people’s individual circumstances, it’s important to emphasise that the proposals will not result in a reduction in salaries and that all staff will still be in receipt of an annual increase in their salary.

“Our proposal is to temporarily freeze increments for some staff and to change allowances for unsocial hours, overtime, standby and call-out so that we have a consistent approach to the payment of these allowances across the organisation.

“The trade unions are currently consulting on the proposals and we are encouraging members to participate. No final decisions have been made.

“There is no easy solution to making budget savings, and, while any proposal such as these are challenging, our response needs to ensure that as a council we are on a strong financial footing for the long term. My priority remains to protect employment while continuing to deliver essential services to our communities.

“We continue to speak regularly with staff about the proposals and we’d encourage anyone who has concerns to speak with their manager so that these can be responded to in the right way as effectively as possible. We are taking all feedback very seriously”.