100 council jobs may go in bid to save £8m

Aug 2 2007 by Paula Owens, Liverpool Daily Post

SEFTON Council leaders are considering making up to 100 people redundant and cutting services to plug an anticipated £8m gap in next year’s budget.

The leaders of Sefton’s Lib-Dem, Labour and Conservative parties were briefed on the budget difficulties last week and warned the cuts would be necessary to avoid ending up in deep debt.

The exact deficit will not be known until the council learns how much money it will get from the Government next year, but £8m is believed to be a realistic figure.

A senior council source said the number of jobs lost was likely to reach around 100 and would also involve a complete overhaul of the management structure.

But Sefton’s chief executive Graham Haywood last night said the vast majority of the council’s 10,000-plus staff would be unaffected.

He described the moves as part of a “positive medium-term plan that anticipates the pressures the council is facing”.

At a meeting next week, cabinet members will vote on taking the plan, currently entitled Sefton 2010, forward.

If it gets the go-ahead, consultations will be held with staff, unions and party members and a course of action involving streamlining management and services will be decided upon by early October.

Sefton 2010 also involves a scheme to outsource council services to external bodies such as private companies and other councils.

Mr Haywood said: “Over the next two to three years, we need to balance the books, downsize management, make progress with the major service review and decentralise some services to local area committees.

“We’re not having a cash crisis, we are simply looking to iron out problems before they become serious.”

He said the management streamlining process would focus on the authority’s central core of activities, which can be reduced as new organisations One Vision and New Directions are now relying less on these services.

Sefton’s housing stock was transferred to One Vision last year and New Directions was set up recently to take over some of the authority’s health and social care services.

Council leader Tony Robertson said setting the 2008-09 budget would be a major challenge. “Across the three political parties, we are trying to plan in advance as we don’t want to end up in a deep hole.”

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