5 January 2011
Some 200,000 council jobs will be lost in England in 2011, with the bulk of redundancies taking place before the end of the current financial year, a union has warned.
The estimate came from the GMB union, which said it had received official notifications of 90,000 planned full-time equivalent job losses from half of England’s 152 councils. Total redundancies were likely to be more than doubled when part-time, agency and contract workers were taken into account.
The assessment comes after the local government budget was cut by 26% in the October Comprehensive Spending Review and councils received average grant cuts of 4.4% for 2011/12 in the December finance settlement.
It is well above the 140,000 job losses predicted for 2011 by the Local Government Association and the 73,000 forecast by CIPFA.
Brian Strutton, GMB national secretary for public services, told Public Finance: ‘It’s always dangerous extrapolating, but because we have 90,000 forms submitted by half of councils these final numbers are not going to be far away.’
He said the majority of the redundancies were due to take place ahead of the new financial year in April, when the budget cuts from central government will take effect.
He added: ‘Trying to even look at other proposals while people effectively have a gun over their head is very difficult. While one or two councils are genuinely looking for other ways of saving jobs, most of them know there just is not the time to work through any other serious proposals, and the job losses they have presented us with will take place.’
The union claimed the redundancy notices had been served for posts ‘across the board’. These included home help for the elderly, school dinner ladies, town planners, social workers, youth workers and child protection professionals.
‘In some cases it’s closing down a service and not providing it any more,’ said Strutton, adding that councils had already exhausted the option of natural wastage and that those affected were mainly in their 20s,30s and 40s.
While not ruling out industrial action, Strutton said council workers were currently preoccupied with trying to save their jobs.
‘At the moment the mood isn’t one of strike action, it’s of
fear and trepidation to protect their jobs. That might change,’ he said.
Local government minister Grant Shapps accused the union of ‘scaremongering’.
He said: ‘Regularly the unions are confusing job cuts with a reduction in posts in local government, which can be delivered through natural wastage, mutualisation and early retirement.
‘We have been quite clear that if councils cut out excessive chief executive salaries, share back-office services, join forces to procure and wipe out non-jobs, they can protect frontline services.’
