Council job cuts (From York Press)

Council job cuts

8:52am Wednesday 17th October 2012 in News By Mark Stead, Political Reporter

A NUMBER of council management jobs in York are to be axed in a cost- cutting exercise.

City of York Council has confirmed it is to “delete” 13 posts within its communities, culture and public realm area and replace them with eight new roles, which the authority says will save £201,000 a year.

The positions which will be ditched under the restructuring at the council – which has to make £19.7 million of savings over two years to balance its books – include the manager of the Future Prospects training, education and careers programme and the heads of adult and community education, arts and culture, environmental enforcement and parking services, parks and open spaces, and neighbourhood management. The role of city-centre manager will also be removed.

Five new “service manager” roles – for learning services, strategic services, public realm, communities and equalities, and arts, culture and heritage – will be created, together with two operations manager posts, one for parks and one for environment, and a “strategic learning and employability manager” position, which will be shared between two people.

A report by officers said the area of the council where the shake-up will take place had been formed in April and having 13 bosses was judged “unwieldy”, meaning a “more streamlined management structure” was needed, and unions had been consulted about the changes.

In 2010, the authority cut two directors’ roles, which were among its most senior positions, as it merged six directorates into four. Charlie Croft, assistant director for communities, said all the duties which fell within the remit of the current posts would be absorbed within the new structure, with the management of Future Prospects falling under one of the learning and employability managerial posts.

“The council is continuing its drive to ensure its services meet the needs of residents, while delivering the in-year savings required and supporting staff at this challenging time,” he said.

“In undertaking this specific restructure through the council’s change management process, it is looking to save in the region of £200,000 and to create robust management arrangements which will ensure services continue to improve. As this is an ongoing process, we cannot comment further at this time.”