A TOTAL of 20,000 jobs have been lost in local authorities across the North West since last year’s General Election – but fewer have been lost at Warrington than at most other councils.
This is revealed in a new analysis by the public services union GMB, based official figures from the Local Government Association (LGA).
Across the region, a total of 20,300 jobs have gone – a reduction of nine per cent.
In Warrington, 280 jobs have so far gone – a reduction of 4.6 per cent.
In percentage terms, only Cheshire West and Chester has recorded a lower reduction among neighbouring authorities, with 4.1 per cent.
GMB says council jobs lost from not filling vacancies that would have gone to the almost one million young workers out of work, will show up in today’s unemployment figures.
Altogether, 101,094 council jobs have been lost across the country, the union claims.
The figures do not include teachers.
At the end of the first quarter of 2010, Warrington Borough Council’s workforce stood at 6,058, the GMB says. At the end of the second quarter of this year, the figure had fallen to 5,778 – a drop of 280, or 4.6 per cent.
Neighbouring authorities in Cheshire all suffered bigger drops, other than Cheshire West and Chester with 4.1 per cent.
Cheshire East lost 8.8 per cent and Halton nine per cent.
Other neighbouring authorities all lost more workers than Warrington – Wigan down 13.1 per cent, Trafford 12.7 per cent and St Helens 6.8 per cent.
Biggest loss of any authority in the North West was Manchester City Council which has shed 20,300 jobs, or 14.2 per cent.
What the eventual jobs toll will be is not yet clear. Warrington has been involved in a war of words with GMB and the other Town Hall union, Unison, over proposed changes to workers’ terms and conditions.
Consultation is still going on and the council says its objective is to avoid compulsory redundancies if at all possible.
