Union in battle with RSPCA over planned job cuts

Leading animal charity the RSPCA is being accused by union members of using Covid 19 as an excuse to sack workers.
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The union Unite maintains that the charity - whose head office is based in Southwater near Horsham - had planned a jobs’ cull before the pandemic started. However, the RSPCA denies the accusation.

The union says that the cutbacks include the closure of four animal centres at Lockwood, South Godstone, Southall and Putney with the loss of 84 jobs.

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It says another 100 RSPCA inspector jobs are also at risk. It says originally, there were 300 job cuts planned, but 28 have been reinstated after union talks.

RSPCA headquarters in Southwater, near Horsham SUS-200708-125535001RSPCA headquarters in Southwater, near Horsham SUS-200708-125535001
RSPCA headquarters in Southwater, near Horsham SUS-200708-125535001

Unite is now calling for the RSPCA to offer a voluntary redundancy scheme.

An RSPCA spokesperson said: “The RSPCA started a 45-day consultation in June to work with staff and the union to explore any alternative solutions to the financial challenges the RSPCA faces.

“As a result of these meaningful discussions we will be keeping almost 30 roles which were previously proposed to be at risk of redundancy, two thirds of whom are frontline staff. This equates to 10 per cent of the original proposed job losses and will result in £1.2 million more being put back into the RSPCA than originally planned.

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“Before Covid, the RSPCA had a deficit of £20m, which had been reduced to £12m, but the pandemic has caused further severe financial pressures. Without this restructure, we forecast a hole in our finances of up to £47m over the next three years.

“This situation isn’t sustainable and we have therefore acted out of necessity rather than choice to safeguard the future of the RSPCA.

“We strongly refute that we have used Covid as an excuse. We have been clear and transparent from the start about the critical need to address our financial situation given that the pandemic has exacerbated an already challenging financial picture and we face a high degree of uncertainty in the coming years ahead.

“We have to take action now in order to protect our vital animal welfare services and we are listening to and engaging with both staff and the union.”

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