PUBLIC-sector cuts could disproportionately hit York.
That is the claim of York accountancy firm UHY Calvert Smith, which points out that where the average proportion of public-sector workers nationally is 30 per cent, in York it is 34 per cent.
It puts the city in 11th place out of the top 50 towns and cities researched by the firm.
Compared with the south of England, northern towns and cities generally have a higher concentration of public-sector workers, which means they are more likely to suffer from cuts in public spending.
Julia Judson Smith, partner at UHY Calvert Smith, said:“Cities like York must fight to ensure that the 25 per cent spending cuts to Government departments announced in the emergency Budget do not lead to a sudden spike in unemployment and a further widening of the north-south divide.”
The top ten cities at risk include Liverpool, with 39 per cent of the workforce employed in the public sector, and Newcastle, Dundee and Blackpool, with 37 per cent.
At the bottom of the table, most of the towns and cities are in southern regions, including Milton Keynes and Swindon, with 19 per cent, and Slough with only 16 per cent.
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