Newcastle City Council slashes 1300 jobs in £90m cuts

Newcastle City Council has revealed a shocking £90m programme of cuts that will see 1,300 jobs slashed and ten libraries close.

The historic city pool, which is in need of repair, will also close as a result of the cuts plus the council will give away responsibility for four leisure centres.

Leader of the Council, Nick Forbes, described the slash and burn cuts as ‘the end of local government’ and said it was the darkest day that local authority services in Newcastle had ever seen.

The council, which currently employs 10,500 staff, blamed rising costs and the cut in the central Government grant for the move but revealed that council tax will be frozen.

Mr Forbes described the financial situation as “an impossible situation from which there is no escape.”
On top of the cuts announced the council is also considering axing weekly bin collections and moving to fortnightly.
RandrLife