Half of council workers are thinking of leaving their job for less stressful work elsewhere, according to a new survey by trade union Unison.

Six out of ten council workers surveyed said they don’t feel secure in their job, with over half (53%) saying their workload is unmanageable.

The survey also found eight in ten (79%) council workers have no confidence in the future of local services due to spending cuts, with 83% saying cuts have had a negative impact on their ability to do the job as well as they can.

Over half of those surveyed (53%) believe their council no longer delivers quality services, with 48% saying their employer doesn’t make the right decisions for the public, according to the survey results.

Unison general secretary, Dave Prentis, said: ‘Local services are collapsing and council workers are being left to pick up the pieces and do the best they can amid the chaos. This disturbing survey should ring alarm bells in Whitehall and also alert ministers to the crisis happening in councils up and down the country.

‘Local authorities have had to cut so many vital services that they have now reached a point where vulnerable children and the elderly struggle to get the help that they need, entire communities are suffering, and the public are being put at risk.’