Sheffield City Council expects further job cuts

Sheffield City Council has published its latest financial forecast for 2017-18, showing its budget is set to be slashed by £40 million over the nest year, with the authority prepared for further job losses.

Over the past six years, the council has lost £352 million, with further losses of £116 million predicted over the next five. The authority warned that it had already shed around 25 per cent of its workforce to make up for cuts in government funding.

While it is still unclear which services will be affected most, Jon Mordecai, from the Unison, commented: "We've had this every year for the past seven years, overall in local government 500,000 jobs have gone and Sheffield's not unique in that.

"If anyone ever thought they were protected, that illusion went a long time ago and cuts have happened in virtually all council services."

Councillor Ben Curran, the cabinet member for finance and resources at the Labour-led authority, said: "We can't skirt around the fact there will be job losses, there have been job losses every year since austerity began.

"We will continue to do our best to minimise those, because jobs are services and we have some very skilled people doing those jobs."

A spokesmen for the Department for Communities and Local Government said it had provided a long-term funding settlement which will give the council ‘more than £1.6 billionn to spend between now and 2020.’

The added: ”This will allow them to deliver high quality services that local people want to see.”