over £1 million jobs to go in the public sector by 2018

Trade unions have warned deeper than predicted public sector job cuts of 1.2 million by 2017/18 would lead to a dramatic deterioration in councils services, according to a report in Local Govt News today

Public finance experts, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), yesterday forecast an additional 300,000 jobs would need to be shed in the three years following the next fixed-term parliament in 2015, if government departments maintain the same trajectory of planned cutbacks.

Government departments are cutting pay bills faster than other forms of spending over the current spending review period, and are choosing to do so through reducing staff numbers rather than imposing pay cuts, the IFS’ Green Budget noted.

This means the public sector is on course for far greater job losses than the 900,000 estimated over the spending review period by independent government forecasters the Office for Budget Responsibility.