Unison has warned that the worst is yet to come after figures showed English councils had been forced to cut almost £11bn from their budgets.
The trade union said service expenditure by local authorities in England fell by £10.8bn to £80.3bn between 2010/11 and 2012/13.
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: ‘The figures showing that almost £11bn in real terms has already been cut from council budgets are truly shocking.
‘They reveal the true scale of the devastating cuts that took place in the first two years of the Coalition government and it is alarming that the worst is yet to come, with another £5.2bn of cuts planned by 2015/16.
‘What these numbers don’t reveal is the human cost that these cuts have on real people in local communities who rely on public services.
‘These cuts represent the loss of vital jobs and services, with day-care, home care, libraries, children’s services and leisure facilities taking a real hit.’
