As Perth and Kinross Council braces itself for a “tsunami” of budget cuts, council employees have been assured their jobs are safe.
Financial planning combined with other measures being considered by the SNP/Lib Dem coalition-led council mean the looming cuts can be managed without resorting to compulsory redundancies.
The council leader, Councillor Ian Miller, made the pledge on Thursday to the 6000-plus employees, while admitting the organisation -which is the area’s largest employer-will have to emerge “leaner.”
It is anticipated that savings of around £38m will have to be made by 2013-14 and a special council meeting is to be held on Wednesday to seek councillors’ approval for a range of proposals that have workforce management implications and could save £9.4m. It will allow any statutory consultation to begin with employees and trade unions.
Flanked by the leaders of the other political parties on the council, who described the economic difficulties as “bigger than political differences,” Mr Miller said, “We are facing our greatest and most difficult financial challenge for 30 years.’Not immune'”Perth and Kinross Council is not immune to these cuts, but we are confident that we are well prepared and that we can find these savings. Central to our approach has been a commitment to take all reasonable steps to avoid compulsory redundancies.
“A range of workforce management measures have been in place since November 2009. We are certain these measures will result in significantly less staff being affected than we originally anticipated.
“For example, during the first six months of this year we purposely left 133 vacancies unfilled. A voluntary severance package has also been offered to some employees affected by the proposal outlined in the report or affected by other reviews and restructuring measures currently under way.”
Minimising the impact on the 6200 full-time equivalent staff, and the services the public receive, was central to the council’s thinking, said Mr Miller. He said it is better placed than other local authorities because of foresight-as depute chief executive Jim Irons said, “We saw the tsunami coming.”
Faced by the inevitable, the council was quick off the mark in terms of planning, Mr Miller said.Early budgeting”We began our budget process much earlier this year so that we could be as prepared as possible for the impact of the government spending reviews,” he said. “Information about the budget cuts, and the impact this will have on the public sector, has been well highlighted in the news and I don’t think anyone has been able to ignore the significance of the anticipated cuts.”
The savings that have workforce implications will be achieved through leaving vacancies unfilled, retirement, a voluntary severance scheme for selected staff, natural turnover and redeployment.
Councillor Alexander Stewart, leader of the Conservative group on the council, said the parties stand shoulder-to-shoulder to meet the challenges.
“The Conservative group believes that there are opportunities for efficiency savings to be realised, whilst not having a detrimental effect on front-line services,” he said. “Administration and back-room services are being reviewed and we believe that this is only right and proper in the current economic climate.
“Communication between management and staff within the council and the general public is paramount (so as) to ensure the success of this operation.”
Labour leader Councillor Archie MacLellan said in Perth and Kinross the four parties are all working for the common good of the electorate, a situation he said is, if not unique, then highly unusual.
Liberal Democrat and administration deputy leader Councillor George Hayton said of the situation, “We know the people we are talking about, we know the service users and we know our staff. It makes it much more intimate and we are doing our best to cope with this situation.”