100 forced redundancies as Yorkshire councils cut back

The axe has been falling as local authorities try to balance the books, despite efforts to shed posts through redeployment, early retirement and voluntary redundancies.

York Council has made 41 compulsory redundancies over the last 12 months, with another 18 voluntary redundancies and 119 members of staff redeployed, said the authority’s Lib Dem leader, Coun Andrew Waller.

The council stressed compulsories were always a last resort after other methods to reduce numbers had been exhausted. Coun Waller said he knew from personal experience in the private sector what redundancy felt like, so it was not something he took lightly.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council said it had made 25 members of staff compulsorily redundant, with another nine going voluntarily.

In a statement, North Yorkshire County Council said: “There are 203 fewer posts at North Yorkshire County Council compared to one year ago, which equates to a reduction of 187 full time equivalent posts.

“Up to 182 posts have been removed as a result of restructuring since April 2010 in addition to removal of other posts as they become vacant.

In terms of staff in deleted posts, 70 have been made redundant, though 10 of these consisted of just a few hours per month. Up to 112 staff have been successfully redeployed into other posts.” A spokeswoman for Harrogate Council said: “Over past few months seven compulsory redundancies have been made across the council.

At the Harrogate International Conference Centre, we have just made 28 compulsory redundancies and accepted nine voluntary.” Craven District Council has announced changes to its senior management structure and Environmental Health Service, making savings of £171,700. £109,000 of efficiencies have been approved and will be achieved by deleting two senior management posts: Strategic Manager – Neighbourhoods and Strategic Manager – Projects and Assets Management.