Shropshire Council staff offered voluntary redundancy in first step towards becoming a 'smaller organisation with fewer people'
All staff at Shropshire Council - apart from those working in schools - have been offered the chance to apply for voluntary redundancy as the service looks to cut 300 jobs.
Council leader Lezley Picton says that Shropshire Council will soon be a "smaller organisation with fewer people" as hundreds of staff are offered the chance to apply for voluntary redundancy.
All members of staff, except for those in school-based posts, were told this week that voluntary redundancy was now open to applications.
The authority is facing a £62 million shortfall in its funding for the coming financial year, and its plans to make savings include the loss of around 300 full-time jobs. The authority currently employs around 4,900 people in the county.
Shropshire Council has already made around £40m of savings but warned that "very difficult decisions" needed to be made to overcome the service's financial challenges.
Lezley Picton, Leader of Shropshire Council said: “Shropshire Council is facing an unprecedented challenge to its finances, like councils all over the country and this is made even more difficult by our rural geography and older population.
"In the next financial year, we must find £62m of savings, in addition to the £40m that we have saved in this financial year.
"Our plans include increasing our income, reducing spending with third parties, managing the demand for services, reviewing our assets and making sure we are the right size as an organisation to meet our costs with the money we have.
“We have been clear that this means we will be a smaller organisation with fewer people. Starting with a programme of voluntary redundancy is our first step to reach this position, which means giving employees the opportunity to apply to end their contracts in return for a redundancy payment.
“All applications will be carefully considered, to minimise the impact for services and make sure that we are still able to provide essential services that prioritise support for the most vulnerable people in the county.
“We are working closely with the unions who represent employees at Shropshire Council and they are aware of this approach.”
