More jobs to go at Wolverhampton council

A report to next week's cabinet meeting talks of an 'accelerated timetable for achieving budget reductions'.

It says some staff will have only statutory 30 or 40 day consultation periods, instead of 'best practice' 90 days.

The authority has also filed an HR1 personnel form with the Government stating that up to 1,000 jobs could be cut by next April.

However, senior council figures last night insisted this figure included a significant proportion of staff that had already left their roles.

The report states: "In line with the Council's statutory duties, an HR1 form has been issued to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills identifying the intention to reduce the workforce by up to 1,000 jobs across the Council in the period up to 31 March 2017 through both voluntary redundancy and budget reduction targets which will result in compulsory redundancies. This will be reviewed in March 2017 to see if a further HR1 needs to be submitted.

"Reductions in employee numbers will be achieved in line with the Council's HR policies.

"Compulsory redundancies will be mitigated as far as is possible through seeking voluntary redundancies in the first instance, and through access to redeployment.

"Given the volume and range of budget reductions being proposed, there will be reductions in services and employee numbers which will require fair and due process to be followed regarding consultation, selection and implementation of any compulsory redundancies. The accelerated timetable for achieving budget reductions in the light of the financial settlement is likely to require the Council to utilise the statutory 45 day and 30 day consultation periods for some service reductions, rather than the best practice position of allowing, where possible, 90 days."

The council says it will ensure employees at risk of redundancy are given 'appropriate support'. Talks with trades unions are already ongoing to 'meet the challenges of the council's budgetary position'. The authority needs to find £91million savings over the next three years amid a number of circumstances, with the Labour-controlled cabinet blaming a reduction in funding from central government. A spokesman for the authority said last night: "In 2013 we expected there would be around 2,000 job losses in the coming years.

"As of April this year, approximately 1,500 employees had left the council, either on voluntary or compulsory redundancy, or through retirement and resignation."

Council leader Roger Lawrence said the job losses were having an effect on overall employment in the city despite new investment from the likes of Jaguar Land Rover. He added: "It is very frustrating that those new jobs cancel out the ones lost from the local authority so that we are running at a standstill."

The news follows budget proposals that involve a maximum 3.99 per cent rise in council tax and cuts to services. The council's finance boss, Councillor Andrew Johnson, said he expected around 60 jobs would be lost by next March.

He said: "There's an ongoing process of redundancies, most of which we are achieving through natural wastage. The approach we are taking isn't just cutting – we are also trying to generate income."