More than 1,000 Nottingham City Council jobs at risk

600 jobs have been lost over the last two years

The leader of Nottingham City Council has said that more than 1,000 jobs may go in the next three years because of government spending cuts.

In December, the Labour-run council announced it was facing a loss of £29.5m in central funding for 2011/12.

Council leader Jon Collins said the cutbacks amounted to a reduction of £60m in real spending power.

He warned 370 posts are likely to go in the next financial year with a similar number over the following three years.

The city council employs about 4,000 non-teaching staff, and the predicted job losses would mean it is likely to lose more than a third of its workforce over the next four years.

Mr Collins said: "Some 370 posts will go and that's on top of the 600 jobs that have gone over the last two years.

"We're probably looking at a similar number of jobs over the next three years beyond this budget."

He has accused the government of "aggressively" diverting money from the most challenged authorities to those in the south of England.

His comments mirror those of the leader of Manchester City Council, where 2,000 jobs are set to be axed.

Mr Collins said: "It's very clear that the government cuts are unfair to cities like Manchester and Nottingham, and other disadvantaged urban areas, and are therefore unfair to some of the most deprived communities in the country.

"This is particularly true given the 'dampening' effect that means our budgets are reduced so that money can be redistributed to more affluent areas.

"If the government persists with its intention of aggressively cutting local government and diverting money from the most challenged authorities to those in the more affluent south and south-east then Nottingham will be dealing with a reduction of at least £20m in funding next year, which would inevitably mean a loss of more jobs."

'Tough but fair'

A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said: "The government has delivered a tough but fair settlement ensuring the most vulnerable communities were protected.

"If councils share back-office services, join forces to procure, cut out the non-jobs and root out the overspends, then they can protect frontline services.

"Driving down the nation's deficit is the government's biggest priority but we have made sure that extra money, powers and funding freedoms are available to protect frontline services and the public from council tax rises, offering real help to hard-working families and pensioners."

He said the settlement was fair across different parts of the country and that funding per person was highest in areas with most need.