As a consequence of Conservative austerity, Bridgend County Borough Council is being forced to slash spending by millions of pounds which will have a devastating impact on jobs, public services and the local economy, according to UNISON Cymru Wales.
Councillors plan to reduce spending on services by £7.6million and job losses are inevitable. Though UNISON has not yet received the detailed proposals, care services, school crossing patrols, homelessness prevention, parks and playing fields, amongst others are thought to have been earmarked as areas where cuts will be made. The authority also intends to reduce funding to leisure providers and Bridgend bus station is threatened.
John Hughes, Bridgend County UNISON branch officer said,
“This is terrible news for council employees and the thousands of people who rely on us to provide their vital services, in social care, education, communities, support services and leisure.
“Large scale redundancies would threaten the income of hundreds of local families and that means less money being spent on our high streets. If the council reduces the funding for leisure provider, HALO, and Awen Cultural Trust, the staff will be badly affected.
“There is no more scope for cuts in public services particularly in disadvantaged communities.
“We’ve lost more than 2,000 council jobs in Bridgend since 2010 as a direct result of the UK Conservative government’s severe reduction in public spending. The public demand for these services has increased thanks to Westminster cuts and we don’t have the resources we need to do the job properly.
“UNISON is ready to work with the authority to do everything we possibly can to protect jobs and services.”
Notes to editors
- In November 2018, UNISON Cymru Wales published Audit of Austerity which revealed 28,100 local authority jobs have been lost in Wales since 2010 as a result of severe spending cuts driven by the UK Westminster government. This is equivalent to losing the seven largest private sector employers in Wales. Our work was based on the ONS Quarterly Public Sector Employment Survey (28,100 council jobs were lost between Q1 2010 and Q1 2018)
- During that time, Bridgend County Borough Council lost 2,069 (headcount Q1 2010 of 7,926; headcount Q1 2018 of 5,857)
- Link to UNISON’s report: Audit of Austerity
Contact
Alastair Gittins, UNISON Press Officer on 07816 53 83 97
Photo credit: Tracey Paddison