Councils in South West call on Government to provide significant investment to Councils to support their employees.

South West Leaders today expressed their huge appreciation of the efforts of all their staff across the South West during the pandemic. They also expressed serious concerns about the need to support council staff and care workers and echoed the views of Cllr James Jamieson, Chairman of the Local Government Association, who said:

“The coronavirus crisis has highlighted the exceptional commitment of council staff and care workers who – alongside NHS health workers – have been on the frontline in the battle against COVID-19 and are true heroes of this pandemic.

“Often risking their own health and wellbeing to keep people safe, they continue to work day and night to try and minimise the spread of infection, protect the most vulnerable, support our local businesses, keep the country running and bring together our communities.

“As we look to build back better from the devastating social and economic impact of this crisis, our communities will need them and the local services they provide more than ever before.

“It is critical that that the Government uses the Spending Review to provide significant investment so councils can continue to support their employees as much as possible and recruit and retain the staff needed to provide the local services that are delivered every day by our hard-working staff, alongside care workers and NHS colleagues.”