Councils have cut nearly half-a-million workers during recession

Tue, 25/06/2013 - 13:20 -- nick

Councils in the UK have lost 416,000 jobs since the beginning of the government's austerity programme.

Zurich Municipal, the public sector insurers, also warns that less than half the likely total has been lost to date, with around 900,000 slated for unemployment by 2017.

This would represent 16% of all local government employees.

Many councils have moved into sharing services as a way of cutting costs, with at least 337 co-operating on 325 services.

Outsourcing has increased since 2010, raising questions on whether employees' rights and conditions have been eroded to save money.

Andrew Jepp, director of public services at Zurich Municipal, said: ‘The considerable and continued reduction in local government headcount and resources over the past years is starkly highlighted. While it was inevitable that local government would become leaner, the pressure to deliver quality services with fewer resources does not become any easier for local authorities across the country."

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