National Trust has today confirmed the results of its redundancy
consultation with around 700 voluntary redundancies and a further
500 compulsory redundancies.
Prospect has worked with the Trust to maximise the number of
voluntary redundancies, but this is still a devastating number of
people losing their jobs.
The redundancies are a direct result of the necessary pandemic
response impacting visitor numbers, membership numbers and
therefore income. It is Prospect’s understanding that for the
time being no properties will be permanently closed.
General Secretary of Prospect Mike Clancy said:
“The unprecedented challenges of the pandemic continue to impact
hugely on the income of heritage institutions and will continue
to do so for some time to come. Prospect understand the pressures
National Trust is under, but this is still a huge number of job
losses and those redundancies will have a huge impact on the
lives of all affected.
“Thanks to work from Prospect reps and officials the level of
compulsory redundancies is lower than it might have been but is
still high - with consultation we hope to reduce these still
further through e.g. redeployment within the Trust. We are
grateful for the level of consultation we have had so far from
the employer.
“The long-term prospects for National Trust and access to its
properties and lands are hugely important both to employees and
to the cultural health of the nation. The current plan, while
devastating for those who are losing jobs they love, is a
reasonable way to move forward, minimising job losses while
hopefully safeguarding the National Trust’s future.”
Paul Delaney, Prospect Rep and National Trust Branch President,
said:
“We have had good engagement from National Trust on this but that
will be scant consolation to those losing their jobs.
“What we need now from the Trust is a commitment to ensuring the
pooling, selection and redeployment of roles is as far reaching
and comprehensive as possible. We must try to mitigate as many of
the 514 compulsory redundancies as we can.
“Prospect will be working closely with all members affected by
this news.”
