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More cuts to the public sector risk damage to Australia's social infrastructure and following Britain down the road to the ''Big Society'', the main public sector union has warned. The Community and Public Sector Union has made a plea to the Commission of Audit not to cut too deeply on government spending, arguing the public sector plays an important role in service delivery and warning of the dangers of too much private sector outsourcing. In its submission to the commission, the union says that public service job cuts have already gone far enough, with more than 3500 job cuts announced between the federal election and November 17, and were putting vital services in jeopardy. The commission is set to report to the government early next year with a ''comprehensive review'' of Commonwealth expenditure and the union says it is worried about the short timeframe for such a large piece of work. In its submission, the CPSU argues the actions of the Conservative government in Britain, moving services previously provided by government into the private sector, had hurt that nation's economy and social cohesion. ''These courses of action, if adopted, would pose the risk that government fails to meet its full responsibilities to all Australian citizens, and would lead to diminished social outcomes,'' the union's submission says. ''Under the cover of 'Big Society' the British government cut thousands of public sector jobs, transferred significant amounts of work to the private sector and slashed social expenditure under the misleading premise of community empowerment. ''These actions prolonged the recession and increased debt in the United Kingdom.'' The CPSU cautioned against making government ''someone else's problem''. ''Making the work of government someone else's problem does not make the challenges and opportunities we face as a society disappear,'' the submission reads. ''Governments are elected to fulfil obligations to the community, and accordingly they should accept that responsibility.'' The union warns that the government's target of 12,000 job cuts would leave the public service too small to do its work. The submission cited the example of Customs and Border Protection whose chief executive said recently that budget cuts would force it to slash, ''through bone and out the other side''. But cuts to lower-profile departments and agencies still had the capacity to hurt society, the union argued. ''Even cuts at the bottom end of this range will see a significant loss of policy expertise and public sector capability that may never be regained,'' the submission says.

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