Councils have lost nearly half a million jobs since 2010, figures show

Nearly a million jobs will be lost from the public sector within four years, according to predictions from Zurich Municipal.
Zurich Municipal said that by 2017, 900,000 more jobs could be cut, representing a fall of just over 16%. The number of council employees has already dropped by 14.3% since the first quarter of 2010 (a loss of 416,000 jobs).

The insurer also highlighted the rise of shared services, with at least 337 councils engaged in 325 shared services. There has also been a rise in outsourcing contracts, with local government accounting for 63% of all public sector outsourcing in 2012.

Zurich Municipal predicts spend on public sector outsourcing will rise up to £101bn by 2014-15.

Andrew Jepp, director of public services at Zurich Municipal, said: ‘The considerable and continued reduction in local government headcount and resources over the past years is starkly highlighted. While it was inevitable that local government would become leaner, the pressure to deliver quality services with fewer resources does not become any easier for local authorities across the country.

‘We work with many councils who have had to undergo significant workforce rationalisation in order to make efficiency savings; many have undertaken considerable organisational change. Alternative approaches to service delivery, whether through outsourcing and partnering with third party providers and the local community, has become mainstream.’