We are calling on the Westminster government to urgently address the ‘broken’ local government funding system that has led Derbyshire County Council, like many others, to enter financial crisis.
Yesterday, Derbyshire’s councillors met to agree freezes on recruitment and other so-called ‘non-essential’ spending to try and patch a £46 million hole in the budget. The recruitment freeze, along with a sizeable number of job vacancies at the council, will inevitably lead to already stretched staff taking on more work and stress.
UNISON East Midlands Regional Organiser Dave Ratchford said: “We are prepared work fully with the council to safeguard services and staff.
“We obviously have concerns over some of Derbyshire’s activities including the £57 million paid out to a private contractor who failed to deliver waste management, but the primary issue here is the endless series of real terms cuts to council funding over the last decade.
“UNISON are calling for the government to step in to provide local councils with the funding they desperately need.”
UNISON is continuing to talk to the council and will be reviewing progress in the next month.
