By Tash Shifrin
30 July 2009
A new unitary authority is making £30m worth of cuts – with hundreds of jobs expected to be lost – in a pre-emptive attempt to tackle the public sector spending squeeze.
Cheshire West & Chester Council was formed on April 1, with an initial £30m reduction on the budgets of its predecessor authorities and an overall loss of 220 jobs. It is now looking at a second tranche of redundancies to slash costs by a further £30m.
But the northwest council said it was not responding to a budget gap. Instead, it is anticipating tighter times ahead.
Cheshire West & Chester’s action comes as two local authorities – Birmingham City Council and Somerset County Council – are considering freezing staff pay, a move that would mean failure to implement any nationally agreed pay rise. Unions are currently consulting members nationally on a 1% rise, with 1.25% for the lowest paid staff.
The Cheshire authority has almost 15,000 staff in total, but teachers and social workers are exempt from the trawl for voluntary redundancies. Of the remaining staff, around 900 are understood to have applied for redundancy.
A spokesman for the council said: ‘We believe there are further efficiencies to be made. Whatever political party is in power in future [after the general election], considerable public services cuts are on the way. We’re trying to effect savings now in order to protect frontline services later.’
Chief executive Steve Robinson said: ‘What we are doing here will be replicated across the country as councils face up to the financial pressures brought on by the recession. The difference here is that we are acting early so we can continue to deliver top quality services.’
Somerset County Council leader Ken Maddock announced ‘an investigation into a potential pay freeze’ for staff, and is also looking into freezing allowances for council members.
Birmingham City Council is also understood to be considering a pay freeze, although a spokesman said ‘no decision has been made’.
30 July 2009
A new unitary authority is making £30m worth of cuts – with hundreds of jobs expected to be lost – in a pre-emptive attempt to tackle the public sector spending squeeze.
Cheshire West & Chester Council was formed on April 1, with an initial £30m reduction on the budgets of its predecessor authorities and an overall loss of 220 jobs. It is now looking at a second tranche of redundancies to slash costs by a further £30m.
But the northwest council said it was not responding to a budget gap. Instead, it is anticipating tighter times ahead.
Cheshire West & Chester’s action comes as two local authorities – Birmingham City Council and Somerset County Council – are considering freezing staff pay, a move that would mean failure to implement any nationally agreed pay rise. Unions are currently consulting members nationally on a 1% rise, with 1.25% for the lowest paid staff.
The Cheshire authority has almost 15,000 staff in total, but teachers and social workers are exempt from the trawl for voluntary redundancies. Of the remaining staff, around 900 are understood to have applied for redundancy.
A spokesman for the council said: ‘We believe there are further efficiencies to be made. Whatever political party is in power in future [after the general election], considerable public services cuts are on the way. We’re trying to effect savings now in order to protect frontline services later.’
Chief executive Steve Robinson said: ‘What we are doing here will be replicated across the country as councils face up to the financial pressures brought on by the recession. The difference here is that we are acting early so we can continue to deliver top quality services.’
Somerset County Council leader Ken Maddock announced ‘an investigation into a potential pay freeze’ for staff, and is also looking into freezing allowances for council members.
Birmingham City Council is also understood to be considering a pay freeze, although a spokesman said ‘no decision has been made’.
