Council chiefs issue redundancy warning
JOBS could go at Harborough District Council as part of further restructuring plans, the authority has warned.
The council has said there could be redundancies as a result of its plans to save up to £5.7m over the next five years, in what the authority calls its Transformation Programme.
It has already cut its senior management team from eight posts to six - three of those shared with neighbouring councils.
Now it is warning of further job losses as it looks to change the way departments are run and services provided.
The authority has not identified individual departments which will be affected as a result of the further restructuring or yet given an indication as to how many jobs could go.
But it says changes could include further sharing of posts or possible outsourcing of some services.
As a result of this, the council said in a statement on Friday, ‘some redundancies may be inevitable’.
A month-long consultation with staff will begin on Wednesday.
The council said it will consult with public sector trade union Unison throughout the process.
A statement from the union said: “Unison has been in discussions with the district council on the Transformation process but until we have the figures and information that will be shared with staff next week we cannot comment further.
“However we do have some concerns over the projected amount of money that the district council says will be saved as a result of the Transformation and we will work on behalf of our members to ensure that this is fully scrutinised.”
The council statement said: “[The Transformation Programme] will revitalise the organisation, strengthen the accountability of officers and councillors, and ensure a more efficient council for the future.
“Following on from a restructuring of senior management in April 2012 when a more streamlined management team was created, the council is now looking at the next stage – ‘service redesign’.
“This will look at the way we work, further restructuring or sharing of posts and possible outsourcing, across the whole council. As a result of this, some redundancies may be inevitable.”
“A month-long consultation with staff will begin on June 13 and council employees, Unison and the media will be kept up-to-date during this process.”
The council has said it is under huge financial pressure in the light of a reduction of about £4m over the last two years in the income it receives from Government.
Councillors agreed at a meeting of full council on April 30 to give the go-ahead to the senior management team to introduce changes
The new senior management set-up announced last month sees chief executive Anna Graves heading up the organisation, with two new posts – assistant director of corporate resources and assistant director of community – created below her.
The head of legal services post is shared with Melton Borough Council, while two other roles – head of service for policy, performance and partnerships and the section 151 officer (treasurer) – are shared with Blaby District Council.
The officers in those roles head up teams at both the councils they represent, sharing their time between the two.
Mrs Graves said last month: “This restructure creates a leaner, more cost-effective senior management team and makes overall savings, while protecting frontline services.
“Unfortunately, it is often inevitable during a restructure such as this that some staff will lose their jobs. This has been a challenging process.
“It continues to be an uncertain time for employees and their continued hard work during this period of change is very much appreciated.”
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Weather for Market Harborough
Saturday 18 May 2013
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