Up to 900 jobs could be cut at Manchester City Council as the authority attempts to make savings of approximately £80m over the next two years.
Having had its budget cut by £170m since its Government funding was reduced last year, 2,000 posts having already been lost through budget cuts in Manchester.
It has been announced that the authority is going to open a voluntary severance package for staff in preparation of the reductions which are expected to be confirmed next month, and it has been suggested that over-55s, who are members of the local Government pension scheme, will be offered voluntary early retirement.
Nine hundred job losses would represent 12% of Manchester council’s existing workforce.
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Council Leader Sir Richard Leese admitted it would “put even more pressure on our services” and that the Council would have to “radically rethink how we provide for Manchester people”.
He added:
“Staffing costs are a significant proportion of expenditure and we believe that the necessary reduction could be in the region of 700 to 900 posts.
“As a result we are introducing a voluntary early retirement and severance schemes, although no applications will be approved until after we have received our settlement from government and on that basis have set a budget.
Leese concluded:
“The council remains committed to aiming to avoid compulsory redundancies.”
A meeting of the council’s personnel and executive committees has been called this Wednesday (5 December) to approve the plans.
A document outlining the wider impact of funding cuts on services in the city should be published in January.
