Cash-strapped Bradford Council to save £40m by axing jobs and services

More than 100 council staff in Bradford are set to lose their jobs as part of plans to balance the books and stave off effective bankruptcy.

Bradford Council announced that it would be making £40 million worth of cuts to jobs and services over the next three years.

The council says it hopes to gain "exceptional financial support" from the Government as it looks to drastically cut its predicted £72 million overspend this financial year.

Next year the council is forecast to overspend by £103 million under current spending policies.

The first wave of cuts will be set out in a public consultation next week and include closing three household waste centres at Ford Hill in Queensbury, Sugden End in Cross Roads and Golden Butts in Ilkley.

Ingleborough Hall, a council-run children's outdoor activity centre in the Yorkshire Dales, is also set to close.

Leisure centres and libraries will be reviewed although £60,000 of cuts are expected to these services in 2024-25, with that figure rising to £1.25 million by 2025-26.

This review will include assessing whether a £20 million leisure centre on Squire Lane in Bradford should go ahead.

Unison has said these proposals will have a "significant effect on the people of the city" and "the community".

However, council leader Susan Hinchcliffe said there will be no cuts to children's services even though the Bradford Children's Trust is predicted to overspend by £49 million this in the current financial year.

Speaking about the cuts, Cllr Hinchcliffe said: "None of this gives me any pleasure. No Councillor comes into Government to make cuts, and we’ve had so many cuts over the years – over £350m. This is the next stage of Government austerity.

"Over the next four to five years what we’re looking at is becoming a much smaller Council – employing fewer people and providing fewer services.

The Labour councillor added: "That’s what the Government have decided by deciding not to adequately fund Councils or Children’s Services."

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