Up to 200 jobs could be at risk at Powys County Council as part of restructuring and streamlining.
The council has already revealed it faces a £30million reduction in its base budget over the next three years and council leader David Jones stated last month that they would have to carry out a thorough review of the council that would result in a “leaner workforce”.
The council, which employs 5,000 full-time staff, said it was planning to make £7.2million savings by cutting grants to community groups and charities and charging for college and sixth form transport.
It was hinted that a number of senior posts were under threat and followed a salary reconciliation exercise to bring wages at the council in line with each other. However, at the time it was not certain what impact that would have on jobs and now there has been a suggestion that up to 200 posts could be affected.
Unison union representative, Andrew Woodman, has been quoted by the BBC today (Thursday) as saying the management job cuts could be a “drop in the ocean”.
“My fear is that these jobs are just the tip of the iceberg and that they will soon be cascaded down through all levels of the council,” he was reported as saying.
Meanwhile, the Conservative group on Powys Council has said it plans to vote against a planned Council Tax increase of 2.75%.
Instead, it will support plans for a 0.5% increase. County Councillor, Peter Lewis, said the fact that household budgets were under extreme pressure meant that any increase in Council Tax would cause further hardship.
He said: ‘‘In England, 80% of councils have frozen Council Tax because of direct Government support. However here in Wales, it is extremely difficult for Councils to do the same because the Welsh Labour Government in Cardiff has refused to pass on the money given to them by Westminster.”