Cornwall Council has announced plans to make 2,000 of its employees redundant over the next four years, as local authorities brace themselves for the impact of government spending cuts.
According to BBC News, the organisation is looking to reduce its expenditure by £110 million over the next four years and has drawn up an emergency budget in an attempt to pre-empt the effects of the coalition's upcoming spending review.
"It's a major challenge, but it's also a major opportunity," said council leader Alec Robertson. "We have got this council shaped up to do what it should be doing, to focus on essential services."
He claimed the council – which pays six employees in excess of £100,000 a year – had already laid off some middle management workers and confirmed that any service which is not a "statutory requirement" could be at risk.
Earlier this month, Birmingham City Council warned 26,000 of its staff that they may be made redundant, in a bid to save £330 million by 2014.
Posted by Hayley Edwards
