THE council has been criticised for cutting the working hours of some of its lowest paid staff while continuing to employ expensive consultants.

Unison says the number of full-time cleaners is being slashed from 62 to 22, with many having working hours reduced to just 10 hours a week.

The changes are part of a push to save £65 million over the next four years as the authority faces an unprecedented cut in Government funding.

The union says the salary cuts will take wages received by many cleaners down below the theshold for national insurance contributions.

A spokeswoman said: “It is unbelievable that a Labour council should choose to make its most savage cuts on its lowest paid staff at the very same time as they have pledged to support the Living Wage Campaign.

“The cut in hours will leave Waltham Forest cleaners on around £78 a week and force many into the benefits system.

“At the same time the council continues to pay exorbitant sums to consultants and senior managers”.

“Unison feels that these attacks on our lowest paid staff are unfair and unnecessary.

“Instead, Waltham Forest should be looking at the cost of their contracts with cleaning suppliers and the cost of consultants who advise on these proposals.

“They should stop spending money on refurbishing the chief executive suite and concentrate on making saving on managers salaries of over £40,000 per year.

“Waltham Forest is a Labour run authority who should have the interests of the working class at heart, not be looking at making cuts to lowest paid and with lowering the standards of hygiene and cleansing in our public buildings.”

Unison will be lobbying councillors before a meeting of full council at the Town Hall on Thursday.

Cllr Afzal Akram, cabinet member for corporate resources, business and employment, said: “We are doing everything we possibly can to mitigate the impact on our staff whilst trying to protect the services that matter most to our residents.

“None of this is easy and we know full well that the uncertainty and level of change is deeply unpleasant for every single person working in the public sector.

“We have made no bones about the fact that we think these cuts are too deep and have been imposed far too quickly.

"But the bottom line is that central government cuts are forcing us to save more than £65m over the next four years and it would be naïve to think that this money can be saved without an impact on staff numbers, wages or hours.”

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