{"id":40234,"date":"2025-04-22T05:24:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T05:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/40234\/"},"modified":"2025-04-22T05:24:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T05:24:10","slug":"birmingham-and-staffordshire-among-worst-affected-after-almost-600000-uk-council-jobs-lost-in-a-decade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/40234\/","title":{"rendered":"Birmingham and Staffordshire among &#8216;worst affected&#8217; after almost 600,000 UK council jobs lost in a decade"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A study by the GMB revealed that since 2012, almost 600,000 council jobs had gone.<\/p>\n<p>The union said that 13 years ago, local authorities in England and Wales employed 1,894,700 workers, but by 2024 the number had fallen to 1,295,300.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.expressandstar.com\/news\/local-hubs\/birmingham\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Birmingham<\/a> was the worst hit council, losing almost 27,000 workers, followed by Derbyshire and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.expressandstar.com\/news\/local-hubs\/staffordshire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Staffordshire, <\/a>according to the study.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1745299449_380_1a93dea0-0d01-4951-ba7d-4d2b2d1d330a.jpeg\"   alt=\"Birmingham City Council House. Taken by LDR Alexander Brock. Permission for use all LDRS partners.\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"w-full max-w-none\"\/>Birmingham City Council House. Taken by LDR Alexander Brock. Permission for use all LDRS partners.<\/p>\n<p>The figures were released as the GMB and other unions begin talks with the Local Government Association over council workers\u2019 pay claim for 2025\/26.<\/p>\n<p>Kevin Brandstatter, GMB national officer, said: \u201cThese figures are clearly appalling and show the deep and lasting damage austerity has done to our country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCouncil workers look after our loved ones, help our children learn, clear away our rubbish and keep our green spaces clean.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are the absolute backbone of society and should have had this year\u2019s pay lift already \u2013 instead, we are waiting for a response from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.local.gov.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Local Government Association.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cGMB members working in local government face huge pressures, with the cost-of-living rocketing. They deserve a decent pay rise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/053ab440-1c44-4844-9e1c-af2d08fedc6a.JPG\"   alt=\"Burton Town Hall Where East Staffordshire Borough Council Meetings Take Place. Photo by Staffordshire LDR Kerry Ashdown. Free for use by all BBC news wire partners\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"w-full max-w-none\"\/>Burton Town Hall Where East Staffordshire Borough Council Meetings Take Place. Photo by Staffordshire LDR Kerry Ashdown. Free for use by all BBC news wire partners<\/p>\n<p>A Local Government Association spokesperson said: \u201cWorking in local government has never been more valued or important, given the hundreds of essential services provided every day by councils and combined authorities to keep our communities running.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSignificant staff shortages in local government risk having a serious impact on councils\u2019 capacity to deliver services and help Government meet key pledges.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGovernment investment in local government and its workforce is key to ensure services are protected and also to delivering its own policy agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A study by the GMB revealed that since 2012, almost 600,000 council jobs had gone. The union said&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,748,393,4884,379,12,285,604,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-40234","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-local-hubs","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-staffordshire","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114379952210437086","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}