Despite being only 115th in total size of all authorities in England and Wales, the council is 16th in the League of Shame of job cutters with a cut of over a quarter of their staff – a move that unions say threatens not only services, but also the local economy and the prospects of people living in the area. This cut in jobs far and away dwarfs the cuts made by other authorities, even those in the top ten job cutters (see table).

Cardiff comes in at 15th in the Welsh list and 260th worst all authorities in England and Wales.

101,094 jobs have been lost in local authorities in England and Wales since the general election in 2010 as public sector cuts add to unemployment levels according to the latest official figures from the Local Government Association (LGA) a new analysis by GMB, the public services union shows.

At the end of the 1st quarter of 2010 there were a total of 1,584,219 full time equivalent employees working in local government in the non-teacher workforce. At the end of the 2nd quarter of 2011 this figure had dropped by 6.4% to 1,483,124 full time equivalent employees.

Kent County Council tops the list for the highest number of job losses with a cut of 3,107 jobs. Before the general election Kent County Council employed 25,512 full time equivalent staff. At the June 2011 this was down by 3,107 to 22,405. This is a drop of 12.2% on the workforce prior to the election. Next comes Manchester City Council with a cut of 2,549 jobs followed by Norfolk County Council (CC) 2,358, Cornwall CC 2,295, Leicestershire CC 2,291, Devon CC 2,110 and Lancashire CC 2,079. The figures for the top twenty councils are set out in the table below. The figures for 314 English council are set out in ‘Notes To Editors’ below. For the original data contact the LGA.

The data is for those directly employed in the non-teacher workforce. Some of the changes in the data for each council may include the number for staff being transferred from councils or back to councils. Queries regarding figures for individual councils should be raised with the LGA.

You can download the entire list from here.

The latest report by Experian, who provide an in-depth analysis of the UK’s retail centres, shows that Cardiff has jumped impressively from 10th place to 6th.

The news comes on the back of the last month’s opening of St David’s, which according to Experian could potentially move the Welsh capital into the top five retail destinations by 2014.

The opening of St David’s saw an extra half a million people pass through the city centre in the first three days, with millions of people now travelling to the Welsh capital every week. This has seen Cardiff leapfrog Nottingham, Leeds, Edinburgh and Bluewater in Kent, putting it firmly on the map as one of the major retail players in the UK.

Extended shopping hours, new park and ride facilities as well as the new Freeb bus offering people a free option to travel around the city centre have all contributed to help make Cardiff a special retail destinaton.

Cardiff Council leader Rodney Berman said: “I have been confidently predicting that on the back of St David’s, Cardiff would move up into the top 10 retail locations and now these figures show that we’ve clearly achieved that. When you look at the cities around us in the league table it is a clear indication of just how far Cardiff has come and underlines our status as a true European capital.

“When you add to St David’s and John Lewis, the popularity of Queen Street and the city centre’s Victorian arcades you have a unique retail destination and I’m proud that Cardiff is now getting the credit it deserves.”

Executive member for Economic Development, Councillor Neil McEvoy, added: “These latest figures show the economic impact of retail tourism on the city which is a huge boost for Cardiff in the current financial climate. When you look at the mix Cardiff now offers in terms of culture, retail, leisure and sport, coupled with its accessibility and compactness, Cardiff is a city that people clearly want to come and visit.”