UPDATED: 07:11 04/11/09 Six of the highest earners and top bosses at City of York Council are fighting for their careers after the authority announced a massive cost-cutting shake-up affecting thousands of staff.

Under dramatic new proposals, the council’s six departments would be merged into four, with two of the directors’ jobs and various assistants’ posts also going.

At the same time, up to 34 managerial jobs across the council – a tenth of the total – will also go. The moves are projected to save £1.2 million to £1.6 million a year at the cash-strapped authority.

The council aims to save £15 million over the next three years, under its More For York drive, and chief executive Kersten England said it was a conscious decision to target the top jobs, while striving to ensure high-quality services are maintained.

“Reductions will fall more heavily at the more senior level because I want to maintain levels at the front line,” she said.

“I want a smaller, tighter leadership team so that we can work together.”

She said she had consulted widely with staff, trade unions and organisations such as health providers and colleges and she particularly wanted to make a smooth transition between children’s and adults’ social care.

“The overriding objective will be that we maximise every pound that we spend,” she said.

There are currently six directors at the council: Sally Burns, Pete Dwyer, Ian Floyd, Bill Hodson, Heather Rice and Bill Woolley. Each heads up a department with several assistant directors and other managers.

Mrs England said she hoped most of the jobs to go would be through natural turnover or redeployment.

The proposals, which will be presented to the council’s ruling executive on December 15, would see the six directorates turned into four, covering: customer and business support; adult, children and family services; city strategy; communities and neighbourhoods.

The city strategy directorate would keep its existing name but gain new responsibilities, while the other three would be new.

An alternative option, with five directorates, has been considered but opposed by Mrs England.

She said many other councils, including East Riding of Yorkshire, had undertaken such shake-ups, but acknowledged that merging adult and children’s services would create a “significant challenge”.

Labour leader David Scott, whose party has proposed managerial culls in the last two budgets, said: “The delay has cost the council maybe £2 million.

“We are still waiting for detail on how the changes will affect services to residents – they must mean better services and more value for money.”

Council leader Andrew Waller said: “In the long term, we must reduce expenditure and the executive will be considering the proposals drawn up. It demonstrates that this is a root-and-branch approach to efficiency.”

York Unison’s general convenor, Heather McKenzie, said: “It is a lot of jobs to be losing. We have the same concerns for managers as we would for front-line staff and we hope they work to avoid compulsory redundancies as far as possible.”

She also warned that some councils had gone too far on managerial cuts.

She said: “That can leave front-line staff vulnerable because they have not got enough support.”

If approved, Mrs England’s new team of directors would be in place by April, with the next phase of the restructure following thereafter.

She said she was not complacent about the future and checks would be put in place to ensure services were affected as little as possible.

Police move in?

POLICE could get a space in City of York Council’s new headquarters. Chief executive Kersten England said the council had to look to work with other organisations such as health bodies and police. She said: “I am open to possibilities at the HQ. We would not dismiss any possibilities. I can see some synergies with police and co-locating.”

Pay as you go

YORK residents will be able to make cash payments to the council more easily from next year. The AllPay system is being rolled out to post offices and some shops across the city. The council currently takes 194,000 cash payments a year but staff administration costs amount to £1.52 per payment. The new system could save £125,000 a year.

Home care review

HOME care services to York’s most vulnerable people could be set for a shake-up. The council is looking at outsourcing more of its care services, to save money. At present, 76 per cent of home care is provided from third parties, but the number of over-85s in York is set to rise by 60 per cent – 2,300 people – by 2020. The number of old people’s homes will also be looked at, as more people aim to stay at home longer.