25,000 jobs could be axed due to council spending cuts, warns GMB

PA
Updated

More than 25,000 jobs are under threat because of cuts to council spending across the country, new research has revealed.

Local authorities in many areas are proposing job losses, ranging from tens to thousands.

The GMB union, which compiled the data, said it was now involved in daily meetings with councils in a bid to scale back the cuts and loss of services.

National officer Justin Bowden said: "Councils are now making cuts to services they offer the general public like bin collections every three weeks or ending cleaning gulleys, as well as severe cuts to services for the elderly and for children.

"Regular home helps and hot meals on wheels are from a bygone era. So much for David Cameron's claim that front-line services would not be cut."

A Department for Communities and Local Government spokesman said: "This Government is providing a long-term funding settlement for the first time allowing local authorities to plan with certainty. Councils will have almost £200 billion to spend on local services, including a £3.5 billion social care package, over the lifetime of this parliament."

Proposed job losses which the GMB said it is dealing with, amount to over 25,000, including:

3,000 Glasgow City Council

2,000 Edinburgh City Council

1,800 Cumbria Council

1,200 Birmingham City Council

1,000 Coventry City Council

1,000 Kirklees Council

1,000 North Lanarkshire Council

900 Fife Council

700 Falkirk Council

700 Derbyshire County Council

640 Bradford Council

640 Swansea

600 South Tyneside Council

540 Brighton & Hove City Council

500 Leicestershire County Council

500 Rotherham Council

500 Lambeth

454 Hampshire County Council

450 Croydon Council

400 Durham Councty Council

400 Plymouth City Council

400 South Lanarkshire Council

400 Stockton Council

400 Wandsworth and Richmond Councils

400 Sheffield

367 Lancashire County Council

350 Walsall Council

343 Northamptonshire County Council

306 Argyll and Bute

300 Blackpool Council

275 Dudley Council

250 East Sussex County Council

250 Newcastle City Council

200 Merthyr Tydfil Council

186 Salford Council

180 Nottinghamshire County Council

180 Southampton City Council

150 Stirling

150 Kent County Council

120 Warrington Borough Council

100 Portsmouth City Council

100 Worcestershire County Council

85 Wirral

84 Western Isles

59 Southend Council

51 Manchester City Council

50 Cambridgeshire County Council

46 Westminster

45 Carlisle City Council

45 Dundee City Council

39 Rochdale Borough Council.

South Tyneside said its predicted job losses cover four years, not just the next financial year.

The figure of 600 reflects the maximum number of potential job losses anticipated over this four-year period, said the council, adding it will do everything it can to reduce the number and wherever possible avoid compulsory redundancies.

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