One in 10 council jobs cut since the financial crisis

Fife Council says its workforce will continue to shrink to meet tighter finances

More than one in 10 council jobs have been cut in Fife since the financial crisis, new analysis has shown.

More than 2,200 full-time posts have been axed over the past nine years, which is a reduction of 13%.

Across Scotland, more than 28,000 council jobs have been lost since 2010, according to a study by The Courier of employment data obtained from local authorities.

Pat Rafferty, Unite’s chief in Scotland, said the “staggering” figures show how ordinary workers have taken the brunt of a financial crash that was nothing to do with them.

Fife Council said its workforce will continue to get smaller as it adapts to tighter finances.

The Scottish Government said it has “treated local government fairly”, with budgets increased when taken as part of the “wider package”.

The number of full-time staff at Tayside and Fife councils has been slashed by 4,500 since the financial crash, The Courier can reveal.

There has been a “staggering” 13% drop in the local government workforce across Courier Country since 2008.

It mirrors the sharpness of the national decline, with more than 28,000 council jobs lost across Scotland in the past seven years.

Unions say the slashing of the workforce shows that workers are being punished for a financial crisis they did not cause.

Local authorities, which have seen their core budgets heavily slashed over the decade, have warned more job losses are on the way as councils are forced to change the way they operate.

Pat Rafferty, Unite’s Scottish secretary, said: “These figures are staggering.

“They show that local government workers have paid the price for the financial crisis which was not of their making.

“They have paid the price in wages. And clearly, as these figures show, they have also paid the price in jobs.”

Mr Rafferty added: “Local government has been hit by a double whammy – years of Tory austerity combined with those cuts and more being passed on here by the Scottish Government.

“Alas the finance secretary’s recent budget shows there is more pain to come. It’s time for an alternative to this permanent austerity which has achieved nothing.”

Monica Lennon, for Scottish Labour, said the numbers “show the human cost of SNP cuts”.

“Thousands of council jobs have been lost in Tayside and Fife since the SNP came to power – cuts forced on Scotland’s most vulnerable communities by a government that is supposed to protect them,” she said.

Last week’s Scottish draft Budget showed that councils in Tayside and Fife will see their 2018-19 pot for day-to-day spending cut by £23 million.

Ministers say that spending power for councils is increasing thanks in part to central funding going directly to schools and health and social care.

Reacting to Derek Mackay’s statement, Dundee City Council leader John Alexander said the city will be “several million pounds better off” than feared given the UK Government cuts to the block grant.

He added: “We still face our challenges in balancing our budget and difficult decisions will still have to be made.

“I’m more than confident that we can balance the books but there will, of course, be an impact on some areas and we need to be honest and realistic about that.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “While the recruitment of staff is clearly a matter for local authorities, council workers continue to benefit from the Scottish Government’s no compulsory redundancy policy – and we are the only government in the UK to give that guarantee.

“Despite the UK Government’s cuts to the Scottish Budget, we have continued to treat local government very fairly.

“The 2018-19 finance settlement foresees an increase both in revenue and capital (11%) investment as part of a wider package of measures.

“Together with the additional power to increase council tax (worth around £77m next year), this will generate a real terms increase in the overall resources available to councils.”

They have paid the price in wages. And, clearly, as these figures show, they have also paid the price in jobs. PAT RAFFERTY, UNITE SCOTTISH SECRETARY

Picture: Getty. Pat Rafferty is Unite’s chief in Scotland.

Pictures: PA. Top: Pat Rafferty of the Unite union; Scottish Labour MSP Monica Lennon, above; and, right, Finance Secretary Derek Mackay delivers his draft Budget at Holyrood.