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Another public service has announced it is cutting jobs due to budgetary concerns. Although the final settlement will not be known until December, Northumbria Police expects to lose £34m from the government this spending period, so hundreds of civilian jobs will go.

Health bosses’ hands in the north-east appear to have been forced by the coalition’s insistence that savings are made across the NHS. Jobs are to be cut at hospitals in Northumberland and Tyneside as bosses have had to act on the basis of a five-year report which sets out how health care will adapt in order to reduce admissions.

A Warwickshire council said there were no surprises in store for its budgeting plan following the coalition government’s spending cuts. Stratford-on-Avon District Council said it has already identified savings of £383,000 for this financial year; and that the council has been working on this for half a year.

Finance Secretary for Scotland John Swinney said he was facing a UK government-imposed cut of more than £1bn. Mr Swinney told parliament a 3% "efficiency savings" target would be imposed across public services and he would end big bonuses. He also plans to introduce a pay freeze for public sector workers earning £21,000 a year or more.

Jim Malone from the Fire Brigade Union described proposals to integrate two branches of the emergency services as "premature" and said the ideas could undermine current discussions with ministers. Tayside Police and Tayside Fire and Rescue Service said plans to share control rooms and fleet maintenance would be discussed this week (commencing Monday, November 15).

Unions are restless at the moment with talks of cutbacks, and staff at a rail company will be balloted for strikes in a dispute over pay.

An investor who has paid £200,000 into the club lawyer’s account to help steer his football side through administration for the second time in seven years says more rescuers are waiting in the wings. "I know a number of people have come forward to pledge funds, which is fantastic," said Calum Melville of Scottish First Division side Dundee.

Government departments have been tasked to make big budget cuts – however, a parliamentary committee has cast doubts over whether Whitehall can deliver these efficiency savings.

A woman whose 100 year-old mother lives at a care home which was hit by a suspected arson attack wants swift justice handed out to the perpetrators. Joy Hemming, whose mother Minnie Pritchard is a resident at the home, said: "My mother is 100 years old.

Is the UK under threat of an independence movement north of the border, not on political, but on economic terms? Scottish government minister John Swinney said achievements had been made within the "limited powers of devolution", but economically this was holding the country back – independence was the only answer.

Fire Minister Bob Neill condemned a forthcoming strike by firefighters which would also coincide with two events – the Hindu Diwali festival and Guy Fawkes’ Night.

A police report has said a regional force may have to consider using compulsory redundancies for the first time since 1996 in order to meet reduced expenditure targets. Deputy Chief Constable Iain Macleod said there were positive responses from invitations to Central Scotland staff to consider an offer of voluntary redundancy or early retirement.