County council to cut 55 jobs (From Kidderminster Shuttle)

County council to cut 55 jobs

3:24pm Tuesday 6th January 2009 in News

WORCESTERSHIRE County Council will cut 55 jobs over the coming financial year.

The job losses are part of a three-year financial plan announced in October 2006, aiming to reduce the council’s annual revenue budget by £25 million and cut 200 jobs.

A council spokeswoman said the jobs would go via “a process of natural wastage where the employees seek jobs elsewhere or retire”.

She added: “It is our hope that no one will be dismissed from their jobs or made redundant as part of the plan.”

The job losses will begin at the start of the next financial year, in April.

The 2006 financial plan originally included 200 job losses “through developing new ways of working that provide the same level of service but at a reduced cost,” the spokeswoman explained.

She went on: “The financial plan was over and above the work the county council had already carried out to run more efficiently.

“It was drawn up in light of a reduced increase in Government grant, strong cost pressures and increased demand for services, for example in elderly care, which pays for the running of day-to-day services.”