Staff cuts to save authority £8m

Redcar and Cleveland Council has said it is to make job cuts to make up a £8m shortfall in its budget.

The Teesside local authority said it hoped compulsory redundancies could be avoided as the savings were made over the next 12 months.

The council has set a budget of £122m and plans a council tax hike of 3.75%.

A spokesman said a trawl for voluntary redundancies amongst its 3,500 employees and natural wastage would help keep redundancies to a minimum.

'Fewer staff'

The council's cabinet member for corporate resources, Peter Scott, said: "We are now officially facing a recession and we know our residents will be worrying about the future.

"The best way of preserving good services and good jobs is to take advantage of technology and innovation to make us as efficient as possible.

"Over the next year we intend to generate £8m to help us to do this.

"Ultimately, we will employ fewer staff and will achieve this wherever possible through reducing staff establishments from natural turnover, careful vetting of vacancies and voluntary redundancies.

"Services and jobs will be the stronger for this and using value for money reviews in key areas well be better placed in the future to build on our strengths."