Councillor Anthony Hunt on working with not against staff

In our NHS looking after patients. In our emergency services responding to calls. In our schools helping our young people learn. In social care helping keep young and old people in need of care safe and well. Collecting our bins, looking after our local environment, running vital community services like libraries, and so much more.
As a leader, my firm belief is that you get the best services by working with these dedicated staff, not against them. By helping equip them to deliver better services, not by grinding them down. Which is why I was so alarmed by the language coming out of Reform's Nigel Farage and Richard Tice recently.
After they took control of some English councils in May, Farage said staff working from home, on climate change or diversity initiatives should start 'seeking alternative careers very, very quickly'. Then his deputy, Richard Tice, announced that new employees at councils controlled by Reform UK will get less generous pensions, and called defined benefit pension schemes 'an outrage'.
Now, I get that many people in other jobs have had it tough recently. Pay hasn't kept up with rising costs, so people feel the pinch. But dividing private and public sector workers won't help anyone.
To start with, the idea that local government staff have had it easy just doesn't ring true. They've seen their pay eroded by 20 per cent in real terms in the past 15 years, and each of them is having to do more work thanks to cuts and rising demand. Several areas are encountering recruitment difficulties. These people are not bureaucrats and pen pushers – they're people who work hands-on in our communities, keeping vital local services afloat.
An 'X' site called 'DOGE Wales' has been set up, which seeks to further these attacks – as if the ineffective and destructive policies of Trump and Musk are a good example for us to emulate.
This took aim at one of our staff in Torfaen – someone who works in our schools with Gypsy Traveller children to help them engage and achieve. It asked if the cost of this work was value for money. I'd say that staff member is worth their weight in gold, just like other members of staff in our schools who help children, from the high achievers to those with disabilities or additional needs. We need more of these local stars in our communities, not less.
So I reject these divisive attacks – they may grab cheap attention, but they are no way to run sustainable local services. We need to build our public services and back those who work in them, not attack them.
Councillor Anthony Hunt is leader of Torfaen County Borough Council.

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