Nottingham City Council confirms job cuts after 'difficult' year

Trade unions are calling for the government to provide financial relief as Nottingham City Council has confirmed hundreds of job losses.

Plans to cut 272 jobs were approved at a council meeting on Monday evening.

Councillors also rubberstamped proposals to put up council tax by nearly 5%.

The authority was made the subject of a rapid review after the collapse of its company Robin Hood Energy, with the government urging it to "act quickly".

In August, Labour-run Nottingham City Council announced it was making £12.5m in cuts, with leader David Mellen admitting there had been failures in the authority's management of Robin Hood Energy.

A total of 230 jobs were lost as a result of Robin Hood Energy's demise, and leaked documents estimated the cost to local taxpayers at £38.1m.

At the meeting the council - which said it has made £271m in savings from 2010 to 2020 - approved plans to cut another £15.6m, which it said "establishes a sustainable financial footing amid the Covid crisis".

The 272 jobs being lost equate to about 5% of the council's workforce - a big reduction in headcount by any measure.

From bus services being reduced to the planned closure of the John Carroll Leisure Centre, the cuts this year feel deeper than most, and combined with a council tax increase, people will understandably ask why they're being asked to pay more for less.

Like all councils, Nottingham City is still counting the cost of Covid, and in general they receive less money from central government than they once did, but there can be little doubt the financial difficulties they're facing have been made worse by avoidable mistakes.

The collapse of Robin Hood Energy led to a government review into the council's finances, which was critical of its involvement in too many of its own commercial companies, leaving Nottingham with a "very significant" gap in its budget.

A panel of experts has now been appointed to address the failings of the past, but this budget may be just one step on a lengthy road to recovery.

Councillor Sam Webster, the council's finance portfolio holder, said the "devastating" impact of the pandemic and "inadequate funding" meant the authority had to "take difficult decisions".

"This budget comes during an extremely difficult time for the people of Nottingham, the nation as a whole and the council," he said.

In a joint statement GMB, Unison and Unite said reduced government funding and Covid-19 "has come home to roost in Nottingham", and called for the government to reimburse Nottingham's local authority £25.9m spent responding to the pandemic.

"Nottingham City Council's resources have been stretched to breaking point, resulting in today's regrettable budget proposal to make further cuts to jobs and services," they said.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been contacted for a response.

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