Unison members in Edinburgh called on the Scottish government yesterday to provide emergency funding for local authorities in the wake of the city council’s announcement of 1,200 job cuts over the next four years.

The union’s Edinburgh branch president John Stevenson slammed the “dressing up” of cuts as part of “so-called new ways of working” and called for councillors to stand up for services.

“We have some sympathy for the council because it is cuts from Holyrood and Westminster that are causing the problem,” he said.