Public sector employment falls in East of England

EmploymentPublic Sector

Public sector employment in East of England falls by 40,295 since 2009 new GMB study shows

It is not possible to reduce public sector employment on this scale without damaging the vital public services we all rely on for a civilised society says GMB London

A new study by GMB of official data shows that between 2009 and 2016 there was a drop of 40,295 in the number of people employed in public sector jobs based in East of England in the areas covered by the regions 47 councils. In 2009 there were 485,887 employed in public sector jobs. By 2016 this had dropped to 445,592. This is a drop of 8.3%.

Over the same period the drop in public sector employment in Great Britain was 606,260. In 2009 public sector employment across Great Britain was 5,861,678. By 2016 this figure had dropped to 5,255,418. This is a drop of 10.3%.

The drop in public sector employment in Waveney was 43.5% between 2009 and 2016. This was the biggest drop in the region. It was followed by St Albans where the drop was -38.6%, followed by Maldon -33.7%, Forest Heath -31%, Ipswich -25.6%, and Suffolk Coastal -24.8%.

The figures covering 47 councils are set out in the table below, ranked by the highest percentage drop since 2009. This is from a new study by GMB London Region of official data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) for 33 councils in East of England. It compares public sector employment numbers in 2009 and 2016, followed by the changes in numbers and in percentages. [See notes to editors for sources and definitions]

Warren Kenny, GMB Regional Secretary, said:

"Public sector employment has fallen by 40,295 in East of England as part of a fall of 606,260 overall across Great Britain. 

“It is not possible to reduce public sector employment on this scale without damaging the vital public services we all rely on for a civilised society. 

“Law enforcement and police, armed services, further education, social and children's services, social care, environment services, parks and libraries, social welfare, transport infrastructure, refuse and street cleaning and all aspects of public administration have all been subjected to often quite savage cuts

“It is high time to stop now with further cuts. GMB does accept that the public sector deficit should be eliminated. The proper way to do this is to increase the tax base so as to afford the vital public services we all rely on for a civilised society. A good place to start would be with the Panama Papers and the Paradise Papers that shows tax avoidance by the wealthy on an industrial scale. Another would be a system of corporate taxes that can't be avoided by transfer pricing and tax havens.”

ENDS

Contact: Dave Powell 07710 631 349 or Keith Williams 07710 631 339 or GMB Press Office 07970 114 762

Notes to Editors

1) Source: Office for National Statistics, Nomis. Business register and employment survey public / private sector.

2) 2009 data excludes units registered for PAYE only but this has minimal impact on the public sector.

3) This is an employer survey of the number of jobs held by employees. The survey records a job at the location of an employees workplace.

4) When looking at changes in the number of employees in the public and private sectors, it is worth noting that these estimates can be distorted as a result of changes to the public or private designation of large businesses. For example, the transport and storage (including postal) industry in the public sector declined in 2014 due to the privatisation of the Royal Mail. Similarly, the finance and insurance industry in the public sector declined in 2014 due to the return to the private sector of one of the major banks brought into public ownership in 2008.