Powys County Council has confirmed that it is set to shed 5% of its 8000 workforce - up to 400 jobs - in a bid to save £13million over the next 3 years.
According to Powys County Council, they will achieve this workforce reduction by pursuing a policy of ‘not replacing’ posts that become vacant through annual staff turnover. They have said that there will be no forced redundancies.
As of this time the council has made no formal announcement about the proposals.
Labour Assembly Member for Mid and West Wales, Joyce Watson, has written to the Chief Executive of Powys County Council, Mark Cerr, to express her deep concerns about the plans and to seek assurances that public services will not be hit.
Joyce said:
‘I have very grave concerns about this very serious proposal.
The devil will be in the detail and it is not yet clear what assessment the council has made of the effect these job losses - which is essentially what these plans amount to - will have on vital services in Powys.
'I would like to know what discussions the council has had with Trade Union representatives and employees before arriving at their decision to cut 5% of their workforce. If they plan to maintain current service provision with a diminished workforce, then I'm afraid that this will put an unfair and unsustainable strain on remaining staff.’
‘Powys Council is the biggest employer in the area and given the current economic climate, I am alarmed that there appears to have been no formal consultation with the people of Powys on what impact this recruitment freeze will have on the local economy.’
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