Unions warn front line services are under threat

TRADE union leaders today said they feared the impact that the latest round of savage council cuts will have on front line services in Edinburgh.

John Stevenson, president of the Edinburgh branch of the trade union Unison, said: "The phoney war is over and people will now see the impact of the cuts.

"One cut that jumped out was that, at a time of poverty increasing, they want to cut welfare rights officers. That is quite ironic in these difficult times.

"This is underlining how serious this situation is; it's unknown to anyone in a generation. This is not back office, reducing waste and increasing efficiencies, it's cutting front line services."

Councillor Andrew Burns, leader of the Labour group on the city council, said: "It appears to me that the brunt of the suggested cuts will hit the weakest and most vulnerable in Edinburgh the hardest."