Budget is a missed opportunity

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Prospect: Budget is a missed opportunity

On behalf of 120,000 specialists across the private and public sector, Prospect General Secretary Mike Clancy today (Wednesday) described the Budget as a missed opportunity to invest in skilled jobs.



Clancy said the Budget was a real opportunity to kick-start a flagging economy by investing in infrastructure and creating the thousands of skilled jobs that our nation needs.

“But the Chancellor failed to do this today. The £3bn of additional capital spending announced pales into insignificance beside the £12.8bn cut over the last three years. This will not create the new skilled and long-term jobs we want to see in the energy, technology and science sectors.

“The government is getting it wrong on policy and delivery. Prospect agrees with the IMF and Vince Cable, who have said that, with record low interest rates, now is the right time to invest in infrastructure and create the jobs that will strengthen the economy.

“The current plan has led to just 0.7% growth since 2010, compared to the 5.3% forecast at that time. But the government also needs to get it right on delivery. The government’s own infrastructure pipeline shows that only seven of the 576 projects (1.2%) are completed or operational and just 18.2% of the projects have started.”

Clancy also expressed disappointment at further cuts to the terms and conditions of specialists in the public sector.

“To rub salt in the wounds of skilled public sector workers, today’s announcement will make them poorer through the government’s expressed desire to remove contractually agreed pay progression. They have already seen a rise in their pension contributions, and effectively a pay cut with increases of under 1%, which will be the case until at least 2016. This is leading to a widening gap between themselves and similarly skilled workers in the private sector.

“The Chancellor’s prescription appears to be an equality of misery between public and private sectors. The private sector does not flourish when the public sector diminishes, the Chancellor has not learned from his mistakes over the last three years. It is time for a change of direction,” said Clancy.