Thats just it Helena the figures haven't been worked out. The council was given the figure they need to cut and drawn it out of a hat. At the public meeting the Mayor was rude and swore at one of the worried parents he hadn't realised his mike was still on is that the way to deal with these situations ?

As I stated before they couldn't even get the job titles right and the names of the first wave of people being made redundant thats how much thought has gone into this.

They have been told as from tomorrow they have no jobs some of the head teachers Gorden works with didn't know till last week that he would no longer be available to them from the LEA he has known since July but of course has not been allowed to say anything. There are more in another 6 months and continually till they are all gone the schools will have no support from anywhere only by buying in which they will struggle to do.

I agree whole heartedly we have to do something this has all been so rushed do you know they didn't even look into properly what Gordens real job is just we have to make cuts that batch go. Believe me Gorden knows a lot from the inside and has a lot of contacts so he knows more than most and certainly more than people who do not work in the system.

Luckily for him he has the skills to start up his own consultancy and hopefully will do well his reputation goes before him and luckily it is a good one. Some of his staff will struggle to find jobs within the education system near to where they work anyway it may not be practical as you say to relocate some of these are 2 income families and have children going through the education system and will not want to uproot their already settled children especially those in senior school and about to take exams soon and why should they ?

Answering LS his secretary is in this position herself. Her and her family lived in a 2 bedroom flat with two children one boy one girl they managed for years even with the children sharing till the girl the eldest started senior school this year and during the holidays they brought their 3 bedroom house the biggest reason being so their daughter could have her own privacy at last. She has no job lined up and is now worrying sick as her husband also works in the education system and his job may go too. In this particular borough they have hit the education budget harder than anywhere else at the moment some boroughs are trying to save the education side as much as possible.

Is this fair to a hard working family who have always worked and done their best to look after themselves ? Do you see what I am trying to get at ? No I don't think most people do you don't have anyone that works in the system and sees what has gone on and the devastation that is about too hit this country and it isn't going to be just education.

I am bowing out now everyone has a right to their opinion but most of you are not seeing the bigger picture unlike those who work within the local councils and those of us that are living with them.

I believe most of us are seeing the bigger picture but as Helena said this as been happening for years in the private sector.

It is really nothing new just now it is affecting people who thought they had jobs for life.

What is middle income anyway ? According to the papers today Middle class families stand to lose £10,000 over the next 4 years but then go on to say anyone earning over £48,700 will lose 5% of their earnings, £2,400 as extra tax and the rest in loss of benefits and services. Well we fall into that catagory and extra tax is par for the course, it happens at every budget. We can't lose benefits as we've never had any to lose, and loss of services, well that must depend on what services you use, and we as a family are not great users of services at all, so I can't see what we will lose until we lose it. Obviously it makes better headlines to say we stand to lose £10,000 than to say we stand to be £2,400 worse off over the course of 4 years. Tbh I was more miffed to learn via the lunchtime news that the Dartford crossing toll is being increased yet again to £2.50 each way by 2012 when it was supposed to be abolished completely years ago. The point being we all have different niggles and need to look beyond the headlines to see how it will really affect each and every one of us.

I think the difference is that the public sector provides services for our communities......therefore the cuts that affect individuals untimately affect us all.....In the private sector cuts are made to keep profits within business high or keep companies going.

Private sector companies also provide us with services the difference is we get the choice of which companies we use unlike with the public sector where that decision is made for us.

But thats just the problem, increasing unemployment does impact on other sectors. Those companies who are doing well are doing well because people are spending or in the finance sector saving. People will not have the income to either save or spend its like the ripple effect and all sectors will eventually be affected. The big finance houses maybe doing well but these are multinational companies who's profits are often not ploughed into this country but sent elsewhere or passed on to their very rich share holders. If the going gets tough here they will simply pull out and set up shop elsewhere – thus creating more unemployment.

Yes our manufacturing industry is now dead and buried quite frankly – but what has taken over from it? And who will lose out because of the fear of unemployment or in fact real unemployment? People as has been said stop holidaying, who else losses out on that – the tourist industry! So a lot of empty privately run hotels who now no longer need their staff – see where this is going?

Sweeping slash and burn policies such as these lead to the very very real collateral fear driven economic downturn – in other words everyone is fearful of redundancy and unemployment and therefore believe it will happen to them – thus stop spending thus creating a down turn in the economy which can lead to real depression.

It maybe the governments policy to rise unemployment to such a high level that it brings inflation very low and thus creating an economic upturn but thats a dangerous game to play which has in the past led to stagnation of the economy.

As for the welfare being capped (Im sorry I thought you had wholeheartedly agreed with Jols regarding stopping sick pay for all) I think they should be capped to a point but disagree with stopping benefits or sick pay for people who are to ill to work.

My parents were also self employed all their lives – they do however get the state pension so it seems some benefits can be claimed. Im not sure were you have got the idea that I expect someone else to pay my way but I did expect to get paid when ill and to have some money given to me when I was made redundant – if not just why am I paying my taxes and national insurance for?

Those people who are striving hard 24/7 to keep a roof over their heads are exactly some of the people who will be made redundant just because they may work in the public sector does not mean they are not working hard or sitting around waiting for handouts.

Immigration is a totally different subject to people having their jobs cut and yep many people go off on one about that but it is a different subject.

Private companies also supply services

you choose either tesco or sainsburys or morrisons etc.

you buy a tv panasonic or toshiba or whatever.

We dont decide who emptys our bins or who to fix our broken arm or who teaches my child those decisions are made for us......we just pay the bill through our taxes.

Arh you said stop paying THEM sick pay – not stop paying everyone sick pay so just wanted to clear that up.

However, what happens to the long term sick if you stop sick pay? They may have worked hard all their lives, now due to illness they get nothing or would you just pay them in other benefits – out of tax payers money?

What about child benefits? Yes they have been capped but do you think they should they have been stopped altogether - after all its their choice to have children not a choice if you become ill?

What are you thoughts on the states methods with mainly private health insurance as opposed to a welfare state?

they are.............

Businesses in the Service industry are primarily concerned with providing services for the benefit of the consumer and/or other businesses. It includes businesses that are involved in areas such as insurance, banking and finance; provision of gas and electricity and water; transport; communications; retailing and wholesaling etc. We can choose which of these to use. However we can't choose which public service to use, we are not consulted as to how the money should be spent or decide how to prioritise that spending although we do vote in those who make the decisions.