MORE than a hundred jobs could be under threat because of budget cuts at Inverclyde Council.

Members of the union Unison are being called into meetings with council managers this week to discuss their future.
Unison branch secretary, Robin Taggart, said they are ‘very concerned’ about the impact any cuts will have on jobs and services.

He said: “No decisions have been taken yet as to what cuts the council may make to close the projected 2018/20 budget gap of £13.5 million.

“The exact figure won’t be known until the Scottish Government announce the local government settlement in December.”

Mr Taggart said a report to the full council on September 28 would list savings options to go out for public consultation, along with other potential cuts to be considered by committees.

He said: “In terms of impact on jobs, the options which will go out to public consultation would, if they were all taken, result in a reduction of 126 full-time equivalent posts.

“In addition, a number of other savings will be considered by service committees which could potentially result in a further loss of 33.3 full-time equivalent jobs.”

Mr Taggart said a range of cuts proposals have been presented to the trade unions, and that many are not acceptable for various reasons.

He said: “We have identified some which we believe would result in compulsory redundancies. To be fair, all of the elected members we have spoken to agree that cuts that have a compulsory redundancy impact should be avoided.

“We will continue to argue against cuts to jobs and services with a particular, although not exclusive, focus on no compulsory redundancies.”

He said the union is also worried about the effect cuts have on staff workloads.

Mr Taggart said: “There has always been a view in some parts of the council that service delivery can be maintained at the same level after cuts have been made.

“There is, however, a growing acceptance, especially in the current climate, that this is no longer a credible position to take.

“The alternative is that services are either reduced or withdrawn, which impacts on communities and often the most vulnerable people.

“We we will continue to lobby governments at all levels over funding, and to seek solutions locally that will minimise the impact of cuts.”

Public consultation on cuts is not expected to start until January.