Council's plan to cut 60 more jobs (From Daily Echo)

Hampshire County Council set to cut library and museum posts

11:30am Thursday 26th January 2012 in Politics

Ken Thornber

HAMPSHIRE County Council bosses have revealed plans to axe 60 more jobs.

The jobs lost will be in libraries, museums and administration. The news comes after proposals to shed 165 posts in adult social care were revealed by the Daily Echo earlier this month.

This is on top of the 1,400 posts culled since January 2011 in a bid to save £100m over two years in response to Government funding reductions.

Tory council chiefs insist that frontline services will be protected and they are planning a council tax freeze for the third year running.

The latest planned job cuts include 16 library staff, five museum posts, four countryside jobs and two in sports and community services.

Corporate services, including human resources, IT and the county treasurers will see about 30 job losses.

More staff could lose their posts as departments share back-office services.

Staff in environmental services, including road repairs and waste disposal, have been spared the axe while children’s services, excluding education, will see just two vacant posts cut.

Cabinet chiefs are approving their individual departmental budgets this week before the whole budget is debated by full council on February 23.

Each department has been asked to find savings of eight per cent for the second year running in a bid to save £45m in 2012-13.

Council leader Cllr Ken Thornber said that child protection, safeguarding services and social care for the most vulnerable were top priorities.

He said: “Although we are in a better position than many other councils, reducing our costs further will neither be easy or painless.”

Peter Terry, regional organiser for Unison, said that members were “very disappointed” about the latest round of job cuts.

The union official said: “We don’t believe the county council has a case for making cuts in jobs or services as they have done over the last year and plan to do so in future.

“Why do they need to cut services that the most vulnerable members of society rely on?”