Women council job losses

25 October 2011

South East councils highest in in England and Wales as the drop in number of women employed by councils make up 75% of the total drop in number of employees in councilcs since the general election official data shows

The drop in the number of women employed in local government and schools in England and Wales accounts for more than two-thirds of the drop in numbers employed by councils since the general election says GMB

There has been a drop of 13,474 in total number of workers employed by councils in the South East between the first quarter of 2010 and the second quarter of 2011. The drop in the number of women workers employed by the council in the same period was 10,213. This means that the drop in the number of women employed by these council accounts for 75.8% of the total drop in employment. This is the highest percentage for councils in any region in England and Wales.

For England and Wales as a whole the drop in the number of workers employed by councils in the same period was 129,051. The drop in the number of women employed by councils was 85,710. This means that the drop in the number of women employed by all council in England aand Wales accounts for 66.4% of the total drop in employment in councils.

After South East in the England and Wales league for the proportion of the drop in employment numbers in councils made up by the drop in the number of women in employment in the same period were East of England 71.2%, West Midlands 70.2%, Wales 69.8%, North East 68.4%, South West 66.4%, North West 65.6%, Yorkshire and the Humber 65.2%, London 60% and East Midlands 29%.

There are 19 councils where the drop in the number of women employed account for 100% or more of the total drop in the numbers employed in these councils. These are North Warwickshire, Lichfield, Powys, Stroud, Canterbury, East Hampshire, Spelthorne, Wealden, Oxford, Pendle, Allerdale, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harlow, King's Lynn and West Norfolk, High Peak, Cotswold, West Somerset, Tonbridge and Malling and South Ribble. See table at foot of release for changes in the numbers in these councils.

The detailed figures for councils in all regions England and Wales are set out in the table below. The figures for 312 seperate councils in England and Wales are set out as pdf at the foot of this release on GMB website http://www.gmb.org.uk/. There are seperate releases for each region also at pdfs at foot of this national release.

These figures are from a new analysis by GMB public services union of official data for employment in local councils in England and Wales compiled by The Office of National Statistics (ONS). See Notes to Editors for the 'source'. The data is for workers directly employed in the teacher and non-teacher workforce. The table contains details for men and women and is ranked by the proportion of the drop in employment accounted for by the drop in the number of women employed.

The data in the table below is from the series that looks at the numbers of workers employed rather than the series which aggregates workers in to full time equivalent posts. Some of the changes in the data for each council may include the number for staff being transferred from councils or back to councils. Queries regarding figures for individual councils should be raised directly with the ONS see contact number in Notes to Editors below.

Table: Change in employment levels (headcount ) for councils in regions between first quarter 2010 and second quarter of 2011 ranked by regions where the drop in the number of women accounts for the highest proportion of total change in numbers.

		Male headcount			Female headcount			Total headcount	Female % of total
		Q1 2010	Q2 2011	change	Q1 2010	Q2 2011	change	change
rank
	England and Wales	560,609	517,268	-43,341	1,696,196	1,610,486	-85,710	-129,051	66.4
1	South East	68,359	65,098	-3,261	233,321	223,108	-10,213	-13,474	75.8
2	East of England	50,196	46,539	-3,657	167,335	158,299	-9,037	-12,694	71.2
3	West Midlands	57,571	54,188	-3,383	186,631	178,646	-7,985	-11,368	70.2
4	Wales	46,262	44,096	-2,166	118,355	113,359	-4,996	-7,162	69.8
5	North East	36,187	32,694	-3,493	93,503	85,955	-7,548	-11,040	68.4
6	South West	53,099	45,137	-7,963	160,126	144,370	-15,756	-23,719	66.4
7	North West	75,823	67,556	-8,267	229,732	213,950	-15,783	-24,050	65.6
8	Yorkshire and the Humber	60,114	56,564	-3,550	183,511	176,857	-6,654	-10,203	65.2
9	London	65,974	61,733	-4,241	178,399	172,033	-6,366	-10,607	60.0
10	East Midlands	47,024	43,663	-3,360	145,283	143,910	-1,373	-4,733	29.0

Brian Strutton, GMB National Secretary for Public services said, “The drop in the number of women employed in local government and state schools accounts for more than two-thirds of the drop in numbers employed by councils in England and Wales since the general election. This is a direct result of the government's cuts in public spending. This was entirely predictable because the public sector employs more women than men.

The drop in the number of women employed in the public sector means a serious loss of income from employment to women across the UK. Many households depend on having income from two wage earners to pay the mortgage and the household bills. The impact will be even worse in the quarter of households with children that are headed by lone parents, 90 per cent of whom are women.

The Tories and Lib Dem's big gamble that private sector growth would create enough jobs to compensate for their cuts in public sector jobs has not come off as the rise in unemployment to 2.57 million shows.

In the middle of the worst international recession for 80 years it is the Government itself that is creating unemployment with 250,000 public sector posts already gone and still more cuts to come. These posts could have been available to the 2.57 million workers now facing the despair of mass unemployment.

Government policy is hurting but it's not working.

We know that the Tories are the uncaring party of mass unemployment but Marie Antoinette impression from the Lib Dems has got to stop. An emergency budget for investment in jobs is overdue.

The priority is for investment to create jobs and boost confidence rather than cuts in the tax rate for the super-rich.

Investment in housing, school repair, energy and transport are all badly needed and will create jobs and growth in all sectors of the economy.

Barriers to recruitment of women such as ensuring affordable childcare and access to flexible working need to be tackled. Specific measures are also needed to ensure that unemployed women receive the support they need to get them back into work.

The squandering of human talent through unemployment is a crime that will haunt future generations.”

Notes:

1 Source and notes on data - This data is collected and analysed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and forms part of the ONS public sector employment statistics. The LGA is responsible only for publication and any reuse should be properly attributed to the ONS. The data is published with the express consent of all councils. The data is available here: www.lga.gov.uk/lga/core/page.do?pageId=1955843.

The data relates to the male and female headcount change figures between Quarter 1 2010 and Quarter 2 2011, female change is expressed as a percentage of total change.

The data also includes some records for individual local authorities that have been imputed. Records are imputed when a local authority fails to respond for a specific quarter. Rather than simply reporting these as a 'blank' or 'nil' return in the data the ONS have provided the best estimate of their employment for that time.

Further information on the methodology of the Public Sector Employment statistics is available on the ONS website: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/method-quality/quality/quality-information/business-statistics/public-sector-employment.pdf

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