Sitemap
Russell Steele • Published 11 Aug 2010 14:00
INVERCLYDE Council bosses will axe up to 500 jobs over the next three years as they battle a huge black hole in their finances.
The bombshell news was revealed in a detailed report, prepared for councillors, which highlights a massive £33.7 million funding gap facing the local authority.
It lays out a blueprint for a reduction in the workforce of the council - and staff and taxpayers have been warned that no service will emerge unscathed.
Council chiefs yesterday admitted they cannot rule out compulsory redundancies over the next three years.
But they will first try to make savings through voluntary severance, redeployment and management of vacancies.
It has also emerged officers are looking at the possibility of reducing or farming out some council services.
John Mundell, chief executive of Inverclyde Council, said: “It is inevitable that, despite our best efforts, savings on this scale will impact on employees at every level of the organisation, the services we deliver and, potentially, the range of services available to our customers.
“It is likely that in three years’ time the council will have up to 500 fewer posts and deliver fewer services directly to customers - no service will remain untouched.”
Accountants at the Municipal Buildings have estimated that to slash the workforce, they will also have to set aside at least £12m to pay for redundancy deals.
Mr Mundell said the council will work in partnership with unions to ensure the cuts would be ‘planned carefully and managed sensitively’.
He said: “I want to reassure employees and local communities that we are working pro-actively to address the difficult financial challenges we face to ensure that, as far as possible, we mitigate the impact on services, employees and customers.”
A council spokesman added: “Given the scale of the savings that are required it is not possible to give an absolute guarantee that there will not be compulsory redundancies at some stage in the next three years.
“However, the council remains committed to working with the trades unions to avoid this situation, if at all possible.”
Union leaders today described the scale of the cuts as ‘unprecedented’ and did not rule out strikes by staff.
Robin Taggart, a senior Unison official, said: “This situation could prove to be devastating, not just for council employees and users of services, but also for the local economy.”
But Mr Taggart pledged to work together with the council to have a say in which cuts are made.
He said: “The joint budget group provides us with an opportunity to influence the overall direction of where the budget cuts may fall.
“However, industrial action may be unavoidable in future if the council decide to serve compulsory redundancy notices on our members.”
Councillors will debate the report at a special meeting next Tuesday.
This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 11 Aug 10
Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our News archives.
Talk of the Towns
Your social, local Business Directory - It's in Inverclyde | It's in The Directory | Directory Network
Copyright ©2012 Greenock Telegraph, 2 Crawfurd Street Greenock PA15 1LH • Tel: 01475 726511 • Fax: 01475 783734
