332 staff to be axed by Walsall Council in £19m cuts
More than 330 jobs will be lost as Walsall Council cuts £19 million from its budget, it can be revealed today.
Walsall Council chiefs revealed hundreds of posts will be axed as they discussed the package of savings that will see the children's services department budget cut and Walsall Museum close, although 55 of those posts are vacant.
Until now the number of job losses has not been disclosed, with council leader Mike Bird insisting it would be 'wrong to speculate' until final proposals have been drawn up.
But finance chief Councillor Chris Towe has revealed 332 jobs will go in the 2014/15 budget.
He said jobs would be lost across a range of council departments but insisted efforts were being made to minimise the impact on services.
Councillor Towe said today: "There will be budget savings throughout and the jobs will come from across the board. The plan is clearly to be more effective with less money. We will try to ensure that the effect on public services is minimised."
Over the past four years there have already been 450 redundancies. A final decision on the number of jobs to go will be made in February.
The council plans to cut £6m from the social care bill as it aims to save £100m over the next five years.
Included in the list of proposals in the draft budget are to close Walsall Museum in Lichfield Street, saving £70,000.
Bosses have said the cuts will be less severe if residents agree to a council tax increase. A consultation has been launched to get people's views.
