Job losses would severely damage libraries - union

The council's executive will discuss ways to reduce the city's library service's budget by about £175k

A union has warned Bradford Council that redundancies for library staff would "severely damage" services.

On Wednesday, the council's executive will discuss ways to reduce the city's library service budget by about £175,000 in the next financial year.

The council said the changes may result in the risk of redundancies and a reduction in opening hours.

Unison Yorkshire and Humberside regional organiser Michael Parkinson said: "The council clearly needs to find ways of saving money, but making redundancies in libraries would severely damage the level of service provided."

"I’d urge council leaders to work with trade unions to find ways of saving money without people losing their jobs, or vital services being impacted."

A spokesperson for Bradford Council said: "The proposals that we are taking to Executive will need to go to public consultation and will also be subject to consultation with trade unions.

"We cannot put a figure on any potential redundancies at this stage.

"The council will always look to minimise staff redundancies wherever possible."

'Difficult decisions'

Last week, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported that Bradford Council would be given a number of possible options, including reducing financial support for the community-managed libraries and switching libraries to more of a "self-service" model.

Members will be told the preferred option will be to reduce opening hours by about 15% at the 10 council-run libraries.

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, executive for healthy people and places, said: "We are already running these services at a low cost, this is necessary because of our low council tax base.

"But unfortunately, we have to make more savings and look at the services we provide and make some difficult decisions.

"This review will allow us to make informed decisions on our libraries services with consultation with our residents who use these services.

"We value all these services and know residents do too."

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