Commenting on a government announcement today (Tuesday) that councils in Surrey are to be merged into two new unitary councils from next year, UNISON South East regional manager Ryan Slaughter said:
“Reorganising Surrey’s authorities mustn’t be at the expense of staff or the local services.
“Council employees will be after assurances there’ll be no compulsory redundancies or erosion of their pay or pensions.
“Communities around the county also need to know vital services like care, housing and libraries won’t deteriorate as a result.”
UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Local government has endured years of shrinking funding. Services were cut mercilessly and councils pushed to the brink under Tory austerity.
“What’s needed now is proper investment to rebuild communities and assurances that local people won’t be asked to foot the bill for the restructure.
“Writing off £500m of council debt in Surrey is a positive step. But central government should also look at whether any other councils being forced into reorganisation should also have their debts cleared.”
