Scalpel at the ready

Today the new Conservative/Liberal government announced £6.7bn of spending cuts to be implemented this year (some 4% of the funding deficit in UK terms). For the Devolved Administration in Scotland this represents some £332m nett, delayed until next year, but some 6% of savings, with the expectation that there will be more on the way.

The reality is this will trickle down to local councils, and voluntary and community organisations like CCH, perhaps not always evenly, as certain services get protection, and others are easy targets. There is also the possible impact on purchasing power, with less jobs in the public sector will there be less demand for things like classes and childcare. The exact position wont be known for some time yet, but we all have to prepare now, if we havent already started, as we are doing at CCH. This everyone agrees is the first of many cuts. We need to get fit to survive.

On the News

I don't normally listen to Radio 4, unless it's election time. But I did this morning on the way in to work. Being interviewed was Nat Wei the UK Governments new Advisor on "Big Society" and now a Member of the House of Lords. I lost count of the times he used the phrase "social enterprise" or "social capital", but I could tell also from what he said that he actually knew what he was talking about, and understood it.

There has been a lot of talk about what this "Big Society" that the Prime Minister has been raising will all be about. If he has Mr Wei helping him, it might bring a true golden age for social enterprise and community development. Time will tell.

Begining of the Week

Don't you find that the beginning of the working week tends to bring mixed feelings - the end of the rest period (normally the weekend) and the start of the week. Sometimes I feel energised and am raring to go at the week and the challenges it presents, and the surprises which it keeps until you are in the thick of it! Sometimes I have a sense of foreboding, nay dread, and have to struggle to get up and face the seemingly uphill battle.

Sometimes of course these can be self-fulfilling. What was yours like this week?

Remembering - the Stockline ICL Disaster Memorial

Today is the sixth year since the worst industrial accident in Scotland, and the death of nine people. It happened here, in our community, right next door. Today we stop and remember. For we will always remember, but especially on this day. Some of our number were there, others of us were not, but we cannot fail to be affected by the events of that day, and the days and nights that followed.