Labour 'furious' about council's redundancy trawl

Staff at West Northamptonshire Council are being invited to consider voluntary redundancy

A council's opposition group said it was "furious" that the authority has asked staff to consider cutting their hours, retiring or taking redundancy to save money.

The Labour group on West Northamptonshire Council described the move as "a shocking development in the council's ongoing financial debacle".

The union, Unison, said staff were "fearful of what the future holds for them and the essential services they provide".

The council said no decisions about savings would be made without thorough consideration of the impact on services and the community.

West Northamptonshire Council, based at One Angel Square in Northampton, said it needed to balance its books

The unitary authority covering the old council areas of Northampton Borough, Daventry and South Northamptonshire, invited staff on Tuesday to consider leaving the council or reducing their hours.

It said the move was part of "ongoing efforts to achieve a balanced budget", as the council faced a predicted shortfall of £72m by 2026.

Wendy Randall, leader of the council's Labour group, said the authority was responsible for poor handling of the public's money

Wendy Randall, the leader of the council's Labour group, said: "The Labour group and I are furious that it has had to come to asking staff to consider lowering their hours or taking money out of their pensions through flexible retirement after three years of the administration watching public money trickle away.

"This all comes down to the poor handling of the public’s money by the Conservatives in the past three-and-a-half years and the management of our corporate affairs. It is simply not fair for them to now put this pressure on council staff and risk further damage to our services."

She added that the council had seen "an embarrassing employee turnover rate since 2021" and there were 27 assistant directors earning more than £90,000 but not enough people to answer the phones.

Paul Meadows, the West Northamptonshire branch secretary for Unison, said: "West Northamptonshire Council is in a dire financial situation. The council's commitment to exploring options other than compulsory redundancies is welcome.

"But that is cold comfort to staff who are fearful of what the future holds for them and the essential services they provide for the safety, wellbeing and prosperity of local community."

The council has been invited to respond.