Councils 'have axed 7,000 jobs'

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Councils in England have cut almost 7,000 jobs in the last six months as the recession bites, the Local Government Association (LGA) says.

The LGA said the estimated cuts were regrettable but that councils were facing a "bleak financial situation".

It has warned of further job losses if a 0.5% pay offer for staff is rejected.

A spokeswoman for the union Unison, which represents local authority workers, said it was "disgraceful" for the LGA to appear to threaten staff.

The LGA said 59% of the 165 local authorities it spoke to had reduced staff numbers over the past six months.

Councils have had to make tough decisions to balance budgets and keep council tax down Sir Jeremy Beecham, LGA Vice-Chairman

A regional breakdown suggests London, the West Midlands, the South West and the North East have been the worst-affected areas.

The LGA said there would probably be more job losses in the next 12 months as council budgets come under further pressure.

Its figures suggest councils expect to see their income drop by £2.5bn this financial year.

It says the job losses have affected senior and middle management, as well as frontline staff.

LGA vice-chairman Sir Jeremy Beecham said: "It is particularly regrettable to have to cut frontline staff, but this demonstrates the bleak financial situation that councils are in.

"Councils have had to make tough decisions to balance budgets and keep council tax down."

Councils were being hit by a "perfect storm" caused by the recession, with income dropping away at a time when more people were turning to them for help, he added.

Pay dispute

Sir Jeremy said it was vital that local authorities and unions reached an affordable pay settlement.

He warned: "If the pay settlement is set too high then local authorities will have no choice but to lay off staff, which neither the unions nor the employers want to see."

In April the LGA announced that council staff would be offered a 0.5% pay rise this year. Unions have rejected the deal.

A spokeswoman for Unison, the union which represents the most local authority workers, said: "It is disgraceful that they appear to be threatening their own workforce with redundancy at a time when local authorities are being expected to help people through the recession.

"Over the past few years their staff have delivered billions of pounds of efficiency savings - more than the government was looking for.

"We know that most local authorities have budgeted for pay increases of up to 2.5%. The money is there to pay more than... they are offering."

The next round of pay talks between the unions and the LGA is due to take place on 18 May.