Nearly 100 jobs losses to cover councils' budget deficit

Two local councils plan to axe nearly 100 jobs by sharing resources with a neighbouring authority.

West Devon Borough Council voted 27 to two in favour of a new staffing model, which will also see jobs losses at South Hams District Council.

The staffing model will see a reduction of nearly 24% across the councils meaning 97 jobs could be cut.

The councils have already been sharing many of their services since 2007 which they claim has resulted in savings of nearly £6m.

The union, Unison, which represents council workers, has criticised the planned job losses.

The councils are facing a combined budget shortfall of £4.7m because of government cuts. The changes would save about £3.8m a year, they said.

Cllr Philip Sanders, Leader of West Devon Borough Council, said: "I am pleased that the majority of councillors have backed this plan. As a modern and progressive council, we are keen to ensure that we deliver services in a way which matches the needs of the people we serve. The changing world in which we live means that we must move with the times.

"Our plans are absolutely essential to enable us to continue delivering high quality services to our residents and communities in spite of substantial cuts in funding from Central Government.

"It is regrettable that there will need to be some redundancies. However, we anticipate that these will be minimal as the natural turnover in staff during the period of implementation will allow us to manage the transition sensitively."

The councils are facing a combined budget shortfall of £4.7m because of government cuts. The changes would save about £3.8m a year, they said.

Cllr John Tucker, Leader of South Hams District Council, welcomed West Devon's decision.

He said: "The new working model puts us at the forefront of modern council service delivery and I'm pleased that we can now move on with our plans.

"Our evidence suggests that more and more people want to do business with us online, at a time of their choosing. Our proposals will do just that, as well as offer our customers the choice of doing things digitally or by more conventional methods, such as the phone."