North Tyneside Council has announced plans to reduce its 4,000-strong workforce by five per cent, in an effort to help balance its books.
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00:00North Tyneside Council has announced plans to reduce its 4,000-strong workforce by 5%
00:06in an effort to help balance its books.
00:08The authority informed staff last Friday that it was opening applications for voluntary
00:12redundancy aimed at shaving £6.5 million from its wage bill over the next two years.
00:18John Ritchie, the council's director of resources, said bosses were finding it increasingly difficult
00:22to achieve a balanced budget.
00:24Officials are warning of a predicted £9.5 million overspend in the current financial
00:29year alone, plus a further £31 million in 2025-26.
00:34They're blaming issues including increased numbers of vulnerable children, inflation
00:38levels, increased payment in areas including waste and private finance contracts, and escalating
00:43costs for both children and adult social care.
00:46The council indicated that should it not make the required workforce cuts through voluntary
00:50redundancy applications, deleting vacancies and people taking flexible retirement, then
00:55it could be forced to make compulsory redundancies in 12-18 months' time.