NHS North Somerset, NHS Bristol and NHS South Gloucestershire health authorities are in the process of merging to form a Primary Care Trust (PCT) cluster in order to save money. The three authorities will share one chief executive and management team by June.
There is a confirmed threat to 2,000 jobs at the Abbey Wood Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) centre near Bristol. The cuts are part of job losses set out in the strategic defence and security review last October. Already in March, it was announced 1,400 staff from three establishments in Bath would move to Abbey Wood.
A man has admitted violent disorder during protests in the Stokes Croft area of Bristol when a recently-opened Tesco Express was damaged. Bristol magistrates heard how 32-year-old Stephen Farthing set a car alight and threw missiles at police.
Thefts of high-end vehicles in Honiton have prompted police to issue an appeal after officers recovered so-called cloned Land Rovers in Umberleigh, Cullompton and Dittisham. The cars had all been stolen from outside the force area and were put on sale with forged documents. The vehicles had forged documentation which related to genuine vehicles in other regions of the UK.
The Grand Pier at Weston-super-Mare had a bumper Easter, the first it had experienced since being rebuilt after fire. The attraction had more than 100,000 visitors over the four-day bank holiday. The new pier has only recently been fully reopened to the public and visitor numbers for April are expected to reach 500,000.
Principal Greg Smith said unprecedented cuts to further education funding across the country was the major factor behind 70 members of staff at Gloucestershire College facing redundancy. Mr Smith said he regretted that the college was taking these measures and every effort had been made to avoid compulsory redundancies.
Somerset retained firefighters are in a dispute over availability. Trevor French from the Fire Brigades’ Union said retained firefighters in Devon had to use the system because they are contracted to do a certain number of hours, which is different to the existing system in Somerset.
Due to a parts shortage Honda is to halve production at its factory in Swindon from Monday, April 11. The Japanese-based car company said that the 3,000 workers would remain on full pay. A lot of carmakers have struggled because of shutdowns to plants affected by the earthquake and tsunami in north east Japan.
Devon and Cornwall Police Chief Constable Stephen Otter has disputed the findings of a new report which says his force has the lowest proportion of officers on front-line duty in England and Wales.
Bosses at the Devon and Somerset fire authority said they have arranged to meet unions where they could discuss some proposed changes including a merger with Dorset fire services. Somerset’s Fire Brigades Union expressed reservations over the plans.
Staff at Southampton City Council who refuse a pay cut face the sack. Council leader Royston Smith said: "Councils are shutting down front-line services to find their savings. I refuse to go down that route.” He added: "Any pay cut can make a difference to people’s lives.
