Job loss fear as council merger talks continue

UNIONS fear that more than half those currently employed by local government in Suffolk could lose their jobs as reform sweeps through the sector.

However they were not surprised at the news of a proposed merger between Babergh and Mid Suffolk councils.

A statement from Unison members at the Babergh said: “The option of a possible operational merger with Mid Suffolk DC has been mentioned in previous discussions between Unison and management.

“We are therefore not surprised that this is now becoming more of a concrete proposal given that the wider review of local government structures in Suffolk appears now to have stalled.

“It has become abundantly clear that the scale of the financial savings required is massive.

“The cumulative cuts proposed over the next four years are the equivalent to almost two thirds of the Council's current annual salary budget (�9.2M).

“It is therefore clear that we are looking at a much smaller local government staffing structure in the future. While we accept that some economies of scale need to be achieved to make local government financially viable, we are annoyed that this has to be at the expense of our members' jobs.

“We fear that more than half of all staff currently employed in local government in Suffolk could ultimately lose their jobs as a result of this process.

“Although this change is unwelcome we will do our best to ensure that the transition to these revised structures is implemented as fairly as possible.”