By Craig Smith

ANGRY union members cast a cloud over Gordon Brown’s first day as Prime Minister by protesting against civil service job cuts and office closures.

As the handover of power took place, members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) gathered in Kirkcaldy Town Square to vent their anger at cutbacks made under Mr Brown’s Chancellorship.

In 2004 Mr Brown announced that 104,000 civil service jobs were to be axed.

Of those jobs, 30,000—including hundreds in Fife—were lost in the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).

PCS co-ordinator Steve West said yesterday’s protest demonstrated the workforce’s strength of feeling.

“We didn’t set out to try and mar Gordon Brown’s day but it was about taking the opportunity when the media are in Kirkcaldy to highlight that not everybody is happy with the way things have been run,” he said.

“The social security offices in Fife have all closed and, as a result, the service to the public has deteriorated—claimants used to be able to go into their local office and find out about a range of different benefits and pensions but that doesn’t happen now.

“We’ve got figures from last year that showed 21 million calls did not get answered across the UK and we think this is completely unacceptable.

“Then there is pay. Many of our members are low paid and have young children. Public sector workers face a below-inflation pay rise cap of 2%, imposed by Mr Brown.

“We would hope that given Mr Brown has a better reputation for listening more than Mr Blair, he will listen to what we have to say and we will continue to put pressure on Westminster so that change can happen.”

Ian Waddell, of the Trades Union Council, described the impact of the cuts as “severe.”

“Since the centralisation of processing of claims for benefits and pensions it is taking much longer,” he continued.

“Local claimants can no longer see anyone but have to phone call centres, often with little satisfaction.

“We have heard that, as a result of the disruption to services his cuts have created, even Mr Brown’s own staff have had to phone in on behalf of constituents.”

Maureen Closs, secretary of Fife Child Poverty Action Group, added, “We have grave concerns about what is happening to benefit claimants as a result of the restructuring and centralisation of the benefits system.

“It can now take months before benefits such as Income Support, Jobseekers Allowance and Incapacity Benefit are processed

She concluded, “We hope that Government will accept the urgency of the situation and listen to advice agencies, civil servants and claimants when they are tell them how badly their new systems are letting people down.”