GMB Members area

  • Is your GMB profile up to date?
  • Give GMB your new address.
  • Be a Workplace Organiser?

376,000 Public Sector Jobs Lost

Wednesday 14th December 2011

376,000 PUBLIC SECTOR JOBS LOST ACROSS UK SINCE 2010 GENERAL ELECTION SHOWN IN GMB ANALYSIS OF EMPLOYMENT FIGURES PUBLISHED TODAY

 

Same old Tories returned to power and with them the philosophy of “if it’s not hurting it’s not working” says GMB

 

A total of 376,000 jobs have been lost across the UK in the public sector since the election. This is revealed in a new analysis by GMB of change in employment in the public sector between Q1 2010 – before election- and latest figures for Q3 2011 published this morning. See notes to Editors for sources.

South West Region, where 54,000 public sector jobs have been lost, is the highest number for any region in the UK. Next was North West with 44,000 public sector jobs lost. 41,000 public sector jobs have been lost in both South East and East of England Regions. Job losses in Scotland’s public sector are 36,000. The figure for West Midlands is 30,000 public sector job losses. The figures are 26,000 public sector job losses for Yorkshire and the Humber, 23,000 public sector job losses in North East and 20,000 public sector job losses in East Midlands. 14,000 public sector jobs have been lost in Wales and 11,000 in Northern Ireland. The full details for 3rd Quarter 2011 public sector employment compared with Q1 2010 are set out in the table below for each region:

JOB LOSSES IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR BY REGION SINCE 2010 GENERAL ELECTION

 

Headcount (not seasonally adjusted

 
 

Q1 2010

Q3 2011

change

% change

 
           

South West

549,000

495,000

-54,000

-9.8

 

North West

724,000

680,000

-44,000

-6.1

 

London

831,000

790,000

-41,000

-4.9

 

South East

719,000

678,000

-41,000

-5.7

 

Eastern

475,000

444,000

-31,000

-6.5

 

West Midlands

526,000

496,000

-30,000

-5.7

 

Yorkshire and the Humber

562,000

536,000

-26,000

-4.6

 

North East

297,000

274,000

-23,000

-7.7

 

East Midlands

402,000

382,000

-20,000

-5.0

 
           

Wales

347,000

333,000

-14,000

-4.0

 

Scotland

625,000

589,000

-36,000

-5.8

 

Northern Ireland

229,000

218,000

-11,000

-4.8

 
           

England

5,084,000

4,775,000

-309,000

-6.1

 

Great Britain

6,057,000

5,697,000

-360,000

-5.9

 

United Kingdom

6,333,000

5,957,000

-376,000

-5.9

 
           
           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul Kenny, GMB General Secretary, said  “I doubt if the electorate had any notion that a change of government would lead to a loss of 376,000 jobs across the UK in the public sector in such a short time?  Same old Tories returned to power and with them the philosophy of “if it’s not hurting it’s not working.”

Commenting on the new unemployment figures also published today (Wednesday 14 December Paul Kenny added “A double dip Osborne recession, rising unemployment, rapidly falling living standards are the Tory/Lib Dem miserable Christmas gifts to the nation. The millions of workers without jobs face a miserable Christmas and a bleak New Year.

Instead of attacking pensions and employment rights and making it easier to sack people the Government should be pursuing policies to create jobs which is something it is failing miserably to do. Where are all the jobs that it promised -to make up for the 710,000 jobs cut in the public sector as an act of deliberate policy?  As we can now see more than half of these, 376,000, have already gone.

This Government upon election made cuts which shattered confidence and stalled the then internationally shared priorities for recovery from the banker’s recession.  It bears a heavy responsibility for the shifting of international priorities away from growth and to more economic pain.”

End

Contact: Brian Strutton 07860 606 137 or GMB Press office 07974 251 823 or 07921 289 880

 

Notes:

1. Source: Office for National Statistics Public Sector Employment  www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_247739.pdf  which was released 14 December 2011

2. Regional public sector employment figures are headcount figures and not seasonally adjusted

3. Estimates are based on where people are employed

Bookmark and Share