Local council workers ‘could soon be facing redundancy’

Posted 01/03/2010

As many as one in ten local council employees could be facing redundancy as the government plans to cut spending on services such as libraries and nurseries.

This was the discovery of a new survey by the BBC, which found that at least 25,000 such positions will be under threat in the next three to five years out of a total 256,000 jobs.

Communities secretary John Denham said “necessary efficiency savings” would have to be made due to the falling revenues caused by the recession.

However, Dave Prentis of trade union Unison criticised the government for the proposed cuts, saying it would mean staff effectively paying the price of the economic downturn and the bailout of the banks.

This comes after the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said earlier this month that it believes redundancy in both the public and private sectors will increase in the first three months of 2010.