Unison Brighton and Hove put up graveyard outside town hall

Unison unveiled the cemetery installation as part of its new campaign Bring it Back outside Brighton Town Hall on Wednesday, in time for the autumn Budget.

Each headstone displayed the names of services and jobs the city has lost.

The campaign from the city council’s largest union wanted to draw residents’ attention to the loss of local jobs and services, such as libraries and disability day centres, which Unison said have marked “13 years of Tory cuts and underinvestment”.

The installation was part of the union's new campaign (Image: James Pike Photography) The union said since 2010, councils across the country have had 40 per cent of their funding from central government cut while having to meet an ever-increasing demand for services.

It said it is estimated that Brighton and Hove City Council has lost over £110m in funding from central government in the last 13 years and been forced to cut over 500 jobs, close several essential community resources and slash funding to a host of services.

Read more: Recap: Rachel Reeves delivers autumn Budget

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced £1.3 billion of extra grant money for councils in her statement on Wednesday, providing what she called a “significant real-terms funding increase” for local government.

The Budget, delivered for the first time by a female chancellor, also pledged that local authorities in England will be given £233 million of additional spending in 2025-26 to prevent homelessness, which the Treasury said will take total spending to £1 billion in 2025-26.

The union has called for more funding for local authorities (Image: James Pike Photography) “While any new funding for local government is welcome; with £1.3bn needing to cover 317 local authorities in England, we can guarantee that it is going to go nowhere near addressing the £110m lost from our city through years of government cuts,” said Corinna Edwards-Colledge, joint branch secretary.

“Nor is it likely to fill the £35m shortfall Brighton and Hove City Council is currently facing meaning local council jobs and services are still at risk.

“Our union stands with our 4,000 members and will use our BRINGITBACK campaign to fight to ensure the Labour government gives Brighton and Hove the investment it needs to provide decent, well-resourced public services and to protect public service jobs.”