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26
Sept
New figures highlight huge decline in North Yorkshire council workers
New data has revealed that North Yorkshire Council has lost more than 13,000 council workers since 2012 – 60% of its workforce.
Figures provided by the GMB Union, using Office for National Statistics data, showed that Yorkshire and the Humber had lost more council workers than any other region, and that North Yorkshire Council had dropped from employing 28,773 people to 15,551.
A spokesperson for the union put this drop down to austerity.
This figures take into account the fact that North Yorkshire Council as it is today was formed in 2023, by merging seven former district and borough councils and North Yorkshire County Council.
Will Dalton, GMB national officer, said:
Local government workers are absolutely essential for a healthy, thriving country. They help our children learn, clear away our rubbish, look after our loved one and keep our green spaces clean.
To lose almost 40 per cent of them [across Yorkshire and the Humber] has torn the heart out of our communities and shows the damage austerity did to the country.
Meanwhile, anxiety is already high amongst council staff following the government's bungled reorganisation initiative. If the Prime Minister wants to make good on his promise to give power and prosperity to every post code, well-funded councils with well paid workers must come first.
After publication, the Stray Ferret recieved the following response from North Yorkshire Council's assistant chief executive for business support and HR, Trudy Forster:
We do not recognise the figure quoted. Our records show that the former county council employed 19,318 people in March 2013, compared with 15,202 in 2026. Much of this 20 per cent reduction reflects schools converting to academy status, meaning school staff are no longer employed by the council, rather than a direct reduction in jobs.
While austerity did lead to some reductions in management, support and non-statutory services, employment numbers changed as services previously delivered by the county, district and borough councils were consolidated in the new unitary, North Yorkshire Council. Alongside this, services previously provided in the private sector or NHS have transferred into the council and vice versa.”
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