Councils 'to cut' 25,000 jobs in England, report claims
Nottingham town hall
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By Darren Estwick. |  |
Monday, 01, Mar 2010 10:27
By Sarah Garrod.
Some ten per cent of England's council workforce could be cut over the next five years, a report has today claimed.
The BBC survey said councils are struggling to deal with the effects of the recession and at least 25,000 council jobs in England could be under threat.
The report also warned that libraries and nurseries could have jobs slashed, while an expert interviewed by the broadcaster said the cuts could be as much as 100,000. Although many of the councils surveyed by the BBC did not say whether they predicted job cuts over the next few years, eight authorities - Kirklees, Leeds, City of Bradford, Sheffield, Stoke-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Surrey - said 1,000 or more posts might be lost within five years.
Commenting on the BBC survey, Dame Margaret Eaton, chairman of the Local Government Association (LGA), said: "Whoever wins the next election, local authorities and other parts of the public sector know they face the prospect of having to do more with less. A spending slowdown will inevitably mean tough decisions have to be taken, but councils will do everything they can to protect frontline services."
On the reports speculation about job cuts in local government, Dame Margaret added: "Councils are being hit by a perfect storm caused by the recession. Sources of income have dropped sharply at a time when more and more people are turning to councils to help them through tough times.
"Local government is feeling the effect of recession in exactly the same way as hard pressed homeowners and families.
"Town halls have been swept by the cold winds of recession for more than a year and that means difficult choices have to be made. Up and down the country many council's feel they have to take the decision to cut jobs in response."
While Tony Travers of the London School of Economics said on Today on BBC Radio 4, that the job cuts were likely to be higher than 25,000: "For myself I'd be amazed if it was that low. I think it'll be much higher. It could be as high as 100,000," he commented.
Following the report the department for communities and local government said councils "should not try to blame Whitehall" and said guidance was being issued to avoid local government cuts.
But the survey also found that over 70 per cent of councils were forecasting overall spending cuts of between five per cent and 20 per cent over the next three to five years, and a union has said such moves would be politically motivated.
Unison general secretary, Dave Prentis, said: "Councils decisions to cut spending, freeze council tax and cut jobs are politically motivated. For 2010-2011, councils have received an extra four per cent from the government and the majority have billions of pounds in unallocated reserves.
"Freezing council tax is a political gimmick. It may mean individual savings of a few pounds, but the overall impact on services will be greater. Local businesses rely on councils to thrive, council workers spend their money in their areas and vulnerable people rely on the council to help them through the recession. Cutting jobs makes no sense at all."