Commenting on the £1bn regional growth fund to be spread across the country, Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON, the UKÕs largest public service union, said:
ÒThis growth fund is just a drop in the ocean of cuts. The cuts in last week’s budget will mean well over £100 billion taken out of public services and welfare payments cumulatively over the same two-year period.
ÒThe extra funding to support private sector investment and job creation in disadvantaged regions is no substitute for the hundreds of thousands of highly valuable jobs that will be lost as a result of Osborne’s cuts.
ÒUnfortunately the economic impact of unemployment and reduced spending power, plus the loss of services that are essential to maintaining and developing a skilled, healthy workforce, will be on such a scale that this initiative will barely register.Ó
Osborne has cut £270m a year from Regional Development funding from this year onwards, so £1bn spread over next year and the year after is little more than a reallocation of that money.