'Services will be reduced' after job cuts

Somerset Council has warned there will be a "reduction in services" as hundreds of its staff are made redundant next year.

On Thursday, the council announced there will be compulsory redundancies across the whole workforce, with 450 jobs at risk.

"We will minimise the impact on services as much as we can, but we will see a reduction in service from the 1 April next year when the impact of this comes in," council leader Bill Revans told the BBC.

Neil Guild, the chair of the Somerset branch of Unison, said the news has left some staff members feeling angry.

The council has begun a 45-day consultation with its staff, trade unions and councillors on restructuring plans to save £30 to £40m by April 2025.

The potential job losses are in addition to the 195 voluntary redundancies announced earlier this year.

"We want to make this as pain-free as we can. But it's not going to be easy," he added.

On 3 November 2023, Somerset Council declared a financial emergency. It has since made cuts to services across the county and sold off some of its assets.

"We said at the time those decisions would be difficult and heartbreaking and this is the business end of this difficult and heartbreaking decision," said Mr Revans.

It is hoped that further cuts will prevent the council from going effectively bankrupt and issuing a 114 notice, similar to what Birmingham City Council did last year.

Somerset council has reassured residents that while the workforce will shrink, they will continue to prioritise and deliver essential services for residents, communities and businesses.

"We will be losing some exceptional colleagues as part of this process," said Mr Revans.

"We will do whatever we can to make sure that we are a caring employer for the member of staff that are impacted by this."

Mr Revans said local governments all over the country are currently under pressure.

"We are seeing a rise in demands for our services - particularly for adults and children - and a decline in our funding from central government," he said.

In response, a Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said:

“We are determined to tackle the challenges facing adult social care and reform the system to enable everyone to live an independent, dignified life.

“We are committed to building consensus on the long-term reform needed to create a National Care Service based on clear, consistent national standards, that will improve the quality of care.”

Council leader Bill Revans has contacted the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for urgent discussions.

Mr Guild added that some of his union members have criticised how the local authority has handled the situation

"There is a lot of worry for them and their livelihoods and their families they support," said Mr Guild.

"There's actually quite a lot of anger as well about the situation and how we've got to this point."

While Mr Revans said it is "too early at this stage" to say what the impact will be on frontline services, Mr Guild said: "the reality is that it will have an impact on services.

"We've seen a massive increase in cost on social care," said Mr Guild, explaining that he believes there is a "broken model" for funding social care and local services.

"The range of services that Somerset Council runs is vast. So while adult social care is absorbing vast amounts of the budget, all these other services have effectively been cannibalised to pay for those increase in costs," he added.

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