LETTER: 446 civil service jobs lost each day

UNISON is warning that, with a million more people out of work compared to pre-crisis levels, the Government has to act to tackle the jobs crisis. This means a million more people are struggling with the misery of unemployment compared to pre-crisis levels.

The Government has made life a misery for all of these people, and their families.

It is a disgrace that hundreds of jobs are being lost from vital public services every single day. Communities are missing out on services such as libraries, day centres and nurseries.

Stemming the tide of job losses from the public sector would not only help ease unemployment - cutting the benefits bill - it would also save the services communities turn to in tough times.

The latest figures from the office for National Statistics show the local government “head count” fell by 407,000 between June 2010 and December 2012.

The figures, which cover local councils and police forces, are equivalent to 3131 jobs lost every week or 446 everyday.

Roger Bannister

UNISON National

Executive Council Member (North-West)