Restructuring drive 'threat to frontline city services'

The Liberal Democrat-run authority is consulting staff over a proposed shake-up of its seven area teams, introduced in 1999, which are partly responsible for the delivery and management of a range of services including housing and parks.

The council is believed to be targeting a layer of middle management as it seeks to cut costs and it is thought the plans could save up to 1.5m.

It has declined to give details while the consultation is under way, but council leader Carl Minns said the transformation could be achieved without redundancies – and dismissed union claims to the contrary as "scaremongering".

He said: "We are trying to cut costs and the staff affected are being consulted. It's about getting back to some semblance of normality and the priority is delivering services to the front line."

But Labour group leader Coun Steve Brady said plans to alter the duties of park rangers – they are believed to be facing a pay cut and being asked to take on other roles such as street cleaning – could turn unsupervised parks into crime hotspots.

He also claimed the reforms would see the closure of frontline housing offices, affecting some of the city's most vulnerable residents.

He said: "These housing officers deal with some of the most heartrending things in life and if they are not going to be there, God knows where their complaints will be dealt with.

He added: "All they (senior officers) are interested in saving is their own necks so they don't have to be made redundant."