County council is to axe 500 jobs

About 500 council workers are to lose their jobs in Oxfordshire.

The county council said the posts would go over a five-year period to make a 10% "efficiency saving".

It explained that the cuts would protect frontline services during the recession, and said budgets for 2009/10 set in February would not be affected.

The council blamed the move on a lack of government money, but said it would focus on natural staff turnover. Union Unison said morale would "plummet".

'No financial trouble'

County council leader Keith Mitchell told BBC News: "We are anticipating what the government is going to do in terms of settlement for us.

"We are not in financial trouble... [and] our staff are important to us.

"Let me say we have not got 500 names on a bit of paper, we have not got particular posts or even areas targeted."

But Mark Fysh, from Unison, believes the money could be saved by reducing consultants' fees.

He said: "The kind of money you are looking at on an annual basis is £10m to £12m.

"Now if you add that up over five years it could give you as much as £60m or more.

"There are your savings - you have not lost jobs, you have not lost services.

"We can do those jobs ourselves... much more cheaply and effectively."