Next week 90-day consultation papers will be issued to many Isle of Wight council staff, in advance of unprecedented job cuts.
Speaking to Mark Chiverton, the Unison union representative, he told VentnorBlog that he anticipates that eventually, job losses at the council could be “in excess of 300.” The consultation will last until mid-February 2011.
For a while, VB has been hearing from a number of unofficial sources that the Isle of Wight council is preparing to lay off a lot of their staff. Numbers had varied, but 100+ was the starting point, going up in numbers of hundreds.
“No service is safe”
It sounds like the cuts will be at all levels and across all services – “no service is safe,” is how it’s been expressed to us.
It’s thought that 20-30 might be given notice of redundancies before Christmas.
While it’s not a surprise that the council would look to lay off staff with the large upcoming cuts that they’ve been preparing people for, the numbers we’re hearing are larger than many have expected – and of course, behind every job loss there’s a family that will be affected by it.
Atmosphere: “Fearful and apprehensive”
We understand that the atmosphere around County Hall is “fearful and apprehensive,” and that there’s “huge amounts of anger in terms of the Governments approach.” The majority of the £32m that the Government is cutting back over the next four year from councils, will be in the first year – the £17m number.
“A decimation of services”
Mark Chiverton described it as, “A decimation of services and the Isle of Wight economy.” While councils up and down the country will all be affected, he pointed out that the Island would be disproportional hit, as there’s such a large part of the work-force employed by the council.
We’ll contact the council to find out if they have anything official to say.
Update: 18.Nov.10 09:57: We’ve just received this from the IWC …
IW Council chief executive Steve Beynon, said: “Given the severe budget pressures the council is facing, particularly in the light of the Comprehensive Spending Review, there will inevitably be significant changes to the scope of services it provides and also the way it provides them.
“These changes, to achieve the required £32 million worth of savings over four years, over half of which must be found next financial year, will affect staffing levels and staff are acutely aware of this.
“While a review on the future shape of the council that will be discussed by cabinet next month is underway, it is not possible to put a figure on likely post reductions. However the final figure will be significant. Following established procedures, the council plans to shortly issue the statutory notice required indicating a loss of more than 100 jobs and is putting in place a range of support measures for staff to help them through this difficult period.
“Given the necessity to look across all the services we provide, it is likely the final total of posts lost will be well in excess of this.
“While staff are well aware of the challenges we as an authority face, the public too should also be clear that there will need to some fundamental changes to public service in the coming months and years if we are to continue to protect statutory services and those required by the most needy in our community.”
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