Reading council to axe 300 jobs in £17.8m budget cut

The council said it had identified £17.8m worth of savings

Up to 300 jobs are to go at Reading council as part of plans to save £17.8m.

The authority blamed a 3.5% (£5.9m) reduction in its government settlement for the savings, which are set to lead to about 150 redundancies.

Cuts to the free bus pass scheme, school meal subsidies and grass cutting have also been proposed.

The council said it had started a 90-day consultation over the job losses, which equate to 8% of the workforce.

Parking fees

It said it hoped half of the job cuts would be made through natural turnover, early retirement and voluntary redundancies.

But the estimated cost of making the remaining staff redundant has been put between £2.5m and £3m.

Plans have also be unveiled to charge for parking in various locations currently free of charge.

The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition council said it was forced to act after its settlement from government for 2011/12 was reduced by £5.9m to £160.4m.

The draft plans will be debated by the council's cabinet on Monday before going to full council next month.