Fórsa is at the advanced stage of planning a campaign on the future of local government and the services it provides. The initiative will equip the union’s members and branches to lobby political parties and challenge local candidates in advance of the local elections on 24th May.

The union’s two local authority divisions – the Municipal Employees’ Division and Local Government & Local Services Division – intend to use the campaign to highlight issues like local democracy, housing, waste, and the environment.

Fórsa has long campaigned against the practice, under successive governments, of diminishing local authorities’ responsibilities. A range of services – most recently motor tax - have been removed from local control in recent years.

The union has also placed the future role of local government at the centre of its strategy for keeping water and sanitation services in public control.