Union blames government for council redundancies

Cornwall Council has said the planned job losses are a bid to save £48.6m

An announcement close to Christmas that more than 100 Cornwall Council employees face losing jobs is a "devastating blow", a union says.

The losses have been announced in a bid to save £48.6m as part of the draft revenue budget for 2025/26, which was approved in November, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Affected staff are to undergo a 45-day formal consultation, due to be completed by April 2025.

Public services union Unison blamed central government for "chronic underfunding". The council said "every effort" had been made to minimise the impact on employees, and the government said it was providing "multi-year funding settlements" to get councils "back on their feet".

'Difficult process'

Emily Gallagher, regional organiser at Unison South West, said: "Announcing redundancies so close to Christmas is a devastating blow to Cornwall Council staff and their families.

"The root cause of these redundancies lies in the chronic underfunding of local government by central government."

Cornwall Council's deputy leader and head of finances David Harris said he had written to the previous and the current government asking for fairer funding towards social care, children's services and housing the homeless – areas which he said had the biggest impact on the council's coffers.

A spokesperson at Lys Kernow/County Hall said: "Every effort has been made to minimise the impact on employees, but, sadly, this difficult process does mean a small percentage of jobs may be at risk within the organisation.

"Where possible, we are restricting external recruitment, and will look at redeploying staff in suitable roles before anyone has to leave the organisation through redundancy."

The council has a workforce of about 5,000 and is the county's biggest local employer.

'Difficult financial inheritance'

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Housing said: "Despite the difficult financial inheritance we have been given, we will get councils back on their feet, including Cornwall Council.

"We will fix the foundations of local government and [have] demonstrated this by announcing over £4b in funding at the Budget to help councils deliver key services."

They added the government would provide more stability through multi-year funding settlements, ending competitive bidding funds and reforming the local audit system.