North Lanarkshire set to axe 1,400 posts

Published on Saturday 4 September 2010 13:11

ABOUT 1,400 jobs are facing the axe at one of the country's biggest councils, it emerged yesterday.

The cutbacks at North Lanarkshire Council are part of a drive to save 70 million in the next two years.

The council aims to shed most of the posts by not replacing staff who leave, along with early retirements and voluntary redundancies.

But compulsory redundancies may also have to be considered.

Council leader Jim McCabe said: "North Lanarkshire Council did not put itself in this position, but we have to deal with it.

"Over the years we have invested heavily in North Lanarkshire but we are now faced with making extremely difficult decisions."

But the Labour leader said he was "determined" to protect key services.

The council's policy and resources committee will consider a raft of measures this week which would deliver 70m of savings in the next two years. The council must save at least 55m over this period.

If all the measures are backed it will lead to the loss of 1,153 full-time equivalent posts. But many jobs are part-time and the head count of staff numbers being cut would be about 1,400, a council spokesman said today.

A further 500-plus vacancies will be left unfilled.

Council chief executive Gavin Whitefield said: "We have been working towards identifying areas of potential savings for several months.

"It has been a very fine balancing act between identifying real savings and preserving the services our residents value most."

The council say no decisions have been taken yet and full consultation would be carried out with residents on any proposals.

The measures in the report include a reduction in employee costs of five per cent no later than 2013/14, delivering 23m worth of savings.

The removal of free transport for pupils within three miles of secondary school would save 1m, while free primary school transport would be cut to the statutory minimum, saving 800,000.

A proposal to cease the community wardens service would save 765,000, while a review of payments to external bodies would save 2m.

A final decision will be taken by a full meeting of councillors in November.

North Lanarkshire Council has an annual budget of around 900m, but all public bodies face swingeing cuts in the coming years to address the UK's 155 billion annual deficit.