Parks suffer as councils cut £15 million from green space budgets

Unison said years of funding cuts had left parks across Britain under-staffed and run down.

The union blamed the Government for spending cuts, saying councils were battling with “incredibly scarce” resources.

A Freedom of Information request to 172 local authorities showed that more than half had cut their parks and green spaces budgets in the past year.

Unison said parks played a vital role in people’s health and well-being.

The union called on MPs to recognise the importance of parks and to press the Chancellor to make sure councils had enough money to maintain them.

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: “Parks and green spaces are a vital local service, contributing to the health and well-being of communities in many ways.

“But years of funding cuts have left many of our parks run-down, under-staffed, and in need of urgent attention.

“Clearly something needs to change which is why Unison is campaigning for a new and fair funding settlement for local government.

“We are calling on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to use his November Budget to address the massive and disastrous funding shortfall that the UK’s councils are facing.”