LABOUR councils must “stop using the language of management,” Scotland’s most outspoken left-wing local government leader told an anti-austerity conference this weekend.

North Ayrshire council leader Joe Cullinane said politicians who oppose austerity must reject attempts to rebrand attacks on public services.

“The first thing we need to do is stop using the language of management,” he told a People’s Assembly Scotland conference on Saturday. “We need to stop talking about savings and efficiencies, and start talking about cuts.”

Activists also heard from Fife council co-leader David Ross who argued that “mitigation alone isn’t enough” during a lively debate on how councils could fight government public spending cuts.

He told the meeting: “Since 2012 we’ve tried to do what we can to address some of the root causes of poverty and inequality.”

He said Fife council, which Labour runs jointly with the SNP, was starting to see the positive impact of early years intervention.

But Mr Ross claimed the increasing centralisation of education policy at Holyrood is “starting to undermine some of what we’ve achieved locally.”

The council has also signed up to trade union Unite’s anti-blacklisting and pro-safety construction charter.

Mr Ross said it was on track to build 3,300 new “affordable” homes including 1,500 council houses.

And he said a scheme offering universal free meals to kids during school holidays helped “avoid stigma and recognise most families are under pressure during the holidays, whether they’re on free school meals or not.”

Mr Cullinane praised the “Preston model” of local government which has won plaudits for reviving the Lancashire town’s economy.

But he said that, while most of the publicity around this focused on the awarding of contracts to local firms, the Preston model was “not just about procurement.”

He told the meeting: “It’s about an inclusive economy, it’s about who owns the local economy.

The North Ayrshire leader said it was time for Labour in local government to “rediscover” a “utopian vision and ambition” that had been missing during the last few decades.

“We need to be outlining an alternative to the status quo,” he said.