400 council jobs face axe

Oldham ‘not immune to budget challenges’
A TOTAL of 400 jobs could be lost at Oldham Council in a bid to cut £24 million.

The bombshell was confirmed to the workforce and trade unions yesterday — as part of a budget settlement the council called the “worst since the Second World War”

The posts that could be affected in the 2012-13 financial year will not be revealed until next month — but compulsory redundancy notices could be handed out before Christmas.

The latest jobs blow follows the news that 345 employees will be shed from the council’s payroll in the current financial year — 2011-12 —through redundancies and natural wastage.

The council has previusly estimated it would have to lose 800 jobs over the next two years as it bids to save £45 million.

Council Leader, Jim McMahon, said “Local Government continues to face serious budget challenges and Oldham Council cannot be immune from that.

“We’re working hard to investigate alternative ways to make savings, such as improving procurement processes, cutting the number of buildings we own and creating new income.

“However, it is important to recognise that we currently spend around half of our total budget on staff, and we must find a balance that enables us to continue investing in what residents clearly identify as priority areas.”

The council announced no member of staff will be issued with notice of redundancy until a full consultation has taken place to find alternative methods.

Councillor Abdul Jabbar, Cabinet member for finance and human resources, said: “This budget settlement is the toughest since the Second World War and it will require difficult decisions.”

“We will be listening closely to staff and particularly want to hear their ideas for cutting unnecessary red-tape and bureaucracy.

“We will, of course, seek to minimise compulsory redundancies, and also to minimise the impact these decisions will have on service users, but we must also be realistic that there are no solutions out there that won’t necessitate some pain and change.”

Leader of the opposition, Councillor Howard Sykes, hit out at the announcement, saying the failure of a plan to share a management team with Rochdale Council has made the situation “more severe”.

He said: “There is not much we can say at the moment until the full details come out, but this is no surprise.

“The devil will be in the detail.”