Union: 180 jobs '˜under threat' at Nottinghamshire County Council

Public services union, the GMB, say 180 jobs are '˜under threat' at Nottinghamshire County Council as a result of '˜savage' Government cuts.

The 180 jobs the union says are at risk are just part of a total of over 25,000 jobs that may go at 52 councils in England, Wales and Scotland.

Justin Bowden, GMB national officer, said: “However David Cameron tires to huff and puff that front line council services won’t be cut, the facts are inescapable.

Councils’ budgets are being chopped yet again, translating into mass redundancies and cuts to the services they offer the general public - like moving to bin collections every three weeks or ending the cleaning of gullies, savage cuts to services for the elderly and for children and decimating parks and leisure services.

“It is already the case in most councils that regular home helps and hot meals on wheels are something from a bygone era.

“So much for Cameron’s claim that front line services would not be cut.”

A spokesperson for Nottinghamshire County Council said: “Like all local authorities, Nottinghamshire County Council has suffered significant reductions in the grant the Government provides to fund services for local people. The Government grant for 2016/17 has been cut by a further 30%, despite the authority already having saved £212m since 2010.

“As a direct result, 182 Council posts are potentially at risk of redundancy as part of the 2016/17 budget proposals. Of the total posts at risk, 75 are already vacant.

“The Council will do all that it can to minimise the number of compulsory redundancies. Some of the reductions will be achieved by deleting vacant posts and the Council will identify opportunities for redeployment and retraining where appropriate. It will also continue to provide employees with support with finding alternative jobs and offer opportunities for voluntary redundancy when possible.

“Wherever possible, savings are being achieved through new, creative ways of delivering services as an alternative to frontline service cuts or closures. These include using technology to help older people live independently in their own home for longer, using reserves and investing in better IT to increase productivity and improve customer service.”