IN her message to staff about Glasgow City Council’s proposed cuts to staff working conditions, chief executive Annemarie O’Donnell said the plans were based on making sure there would still be a job for anyone who wants to keep working for the council, and that will be some comfort to some people. But it cannot distract from the fact the changes will mean real pain to many people, some of whom work in vital services for low rates of pay.

The theory the council is working to is that it is better to make cuts round the edges rather than make staff redundant or cut services. They also insist those at the top are facing cuts too, with the top tier of management expect to forego a pay rise, although the lack of a rise on a six-figure salary is not the same as no longer being able to earn overtime on a salary of £14,000.

The measures, which include banning flexi-time, are also just one small part of a much bigger picture of cuts. The changes to conditions are expected to save around £4.5million, but the council faces a financial black hole that is getting on for 30 times that size, and it is similar for other councils across the country. Inevitably, this means cuts to core services.

If councils can make relatively pain-free savings through improving efficiency, that can only be positive, but much of that work has already been done. And we must avoid the trap of thinking that because Glasgow’s proposed cuts are about working conditions, that means less pain – the public sector is the biggest employer in Scotland, and many of the workers are women in low-paid positions, so any change will have profound social consequences.

The savings also raise, once again, the issue of council powers and accountability. One of the reasons councils are making cuts is that they are unable to raise tax because of the council tax freeze imposed on them by the Scottish Government. The proposed cuts to staff working conditions in Glasgow is another demonstration of the fact that an end to the freeze is long overdue.