If you thought the last round of budget cuts was the end, then you will be sorely disappointed. After a hollow promise from the convener Marie McNair to protect our services, the SNP have just cut the budget of West Dunbartonshire’s health and social care partnership – affecting more local jobs and services.

My previous Reporter column focussed on the impending SNP budget cuts at the council. Despite a significant surplus left by the previous Labour administration, and SNP claims that they were anti-austerity, when it came to the crunch they chose to cut local public services instead.

Unfortunately, the real impact of the most of the cuts won’t be known until they work their way through to the people who rely on the services.

We all knew the SNP were determined to cut the Care of Garden Scheme for pensioners and disabled people, and reduced grass cutting of open spaces by 50 per cent in our public parks, cemeteries along our roadways and throughout our estates.

A case in point is the SNP’s six per cent funding cut to strategic partners. These have been phased over three years to mask their impact but will mean charities and voluntary groups will have £140,764 less to spend on their service users.

This means West Dunbartonshire Citizens Advice Bureau and the Independent Resource Centre will have £50,943 less to spend supporting our citizens over the next three years.

Our youth groups, Tullochan and Y-Sort-It, will have £23,860 less to spend on young people.

The West Dunbartonshire Environmental Trust will have £18,864 less to invest in our communities. Dumbarton’s Home From Home, that supports vulnerable homeless, will get £18,000 less. Care and Repair will lose out on £19,575, and Clyde Shopmobility will lose £6,990.

These cuts will have a direct impact on services because as the costs of services increase the funding will be cut year on year by the SNP.

But the principle is just as important. If, despite having a surplus, the SNP can still go ahead and make cuts to advice services, charities and organisations whose primary function is to help young people, vulnerable adults, pensioners and disabled, then there’s not much they wouldn’t consider cutting.

Fortunately, it’s not all bad news, as the trades unions forced a U-turn by the SNP over cuts to conveners – a significant achievement and a testament to people power and effective campaigning.