Top tier overhaul set to save council £1.6m

AN OVERHAUL of the top tier of management at a Yorkshire council is expected to save up to £1.6m as local authorities brace themselves for the Government's swingeing public sector cuts.
By The Newsroom
Published 25th Jun 2010, 23:18 BST
Updated 25th Jun 2010, 23:18 BST

The major restructuring at York Council is due to see a shake-up in the way key services, ranging from education and social care to planning and transportation, are managed.

The re-organisation would see the number of assistant directors slashed from 21 to 15, with responsibilities shared out between the remaining senior officers.

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York Council's chief executive, Kersten England, admitted that "tough choices" needed to be made in the latest phase of streamlining to save 15m from expenditure during just three years.

She added: "Councils across the country are facing serious financial pressures, both as a result of government funding and increased pressure on services. We need to act now to ensure that we can continue to provide high quality services for York in the future.

"That means creating a streamlined management structure that provides greater customer focus and improved responsiveness to local neighbourhood and community needs, as well as planning for the changing service requirements of the city's ageing population.

"These are not easy decisions and will mean that we need to make tough choices and focus the council's resources on our most important services."

The overhaul is the latest phase of a re-structuring of the council's management after two of the authority's highest earning officers took voluntary redundancy earlier this year.

Related topics:YorkshireGovernmentYork