THE spending squeeze on local councils is likely to continue for years – putting thousands more jobs at risk, a new report warns today.

Nationally, despite 145,000 redundancies in the past year, the impact of council cutbacks has only just begun.

And the report, by the Audit Commission and the Local Government Association, warns that further job losses are inevitable.

The report makes particularly grim reading for the North-East, where one in three workers are employed in the public sector.

It urges cash-strapped councils to remove entire tiers of management and share backroom staff in an effort to protect frontline posts and services.

Thousands of workers throughout the North-East and North Yorkshire have already lost their jobs.

Figures obtained by The Northern Echo showed that 3,300 council staff and police workers have lost their job in the past year, costing local authorities £48m in redundancy payments.

But local authorities are planning further cutbacks over the next four years.

Last month, Darlington Borough Council agreed a plan that includes a proposed 155 redundancies, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council is holding talks with unions in an effort to lose 80 jobs on top of 300 earlier redundancies, Newcastle City Council is looking to cut the equivalent of 360 jobs and North Yorkshire County Council has announced 500 job losses.

Although local councils are looking to soften the blow by natural wastage and voluntary redundancies, the report says further compulsory job losses are inevitable.

Sir Merrick Cockell, chairman of the Local Government Association, said: “Unfortunately, job losses are inevitable given the scale of cuts. Where these are necessary, councils are working hard to minimise disruption to staff and services through restructuring, shared services and outsourcing.”

The Work in Progress report says that the local council workforce – not including teachers, firefighters or police – peaked at the equivalent of 1.063 million full-time posts in 2007, but has since fallen to 932,800 by the middle of this year.

The overall council wages bill rose by 22 per cent between 2004- 05 and 2009-10, but has since fallen 5.6 per cent in real terms to about £30bn.

Audit Commission chairman Michael O’Higgins said: “Councils are often the largest employer in their area, so downsizing can affect the local economy.

“Local government is a people business, with staff costs accounting for almost half the money spent by councils, so they need to be aware of all their options and the tools at their disposal.”

Brian Strutton, national officer of the GMB union, said: “Council workers face an unprecedented triple whammy of job losses, pay freezes and attacks on their pensions.”