Southend council to cut 178 posts
- Published
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council has announced plans to cut 178 posts to help save £15.5m.
The council says the savings are needed due to the cut in government grant to the authority.
The plans include a £6.4m cut to the adult and community services budget and a £3.4m cut to the children and learning department budget.
The proposals will also see the enterprise, tourism and environment services budget cut by £3.3m.
Funding for support services will be cut by £1.8m and corporate policy services will be cut by £480,000.
In a statement the council said: "A total of 178 posts have been identified as being at risk, but 71 of these are currently vacant."
Council leader Nigel Holdcroft said: "The current economic situation has made this the most difficult budget we have had to set in many, many years.
"No leisure centres, arts or cultural facilities have had to be closed and despite reductions in service our Connexions youth service has been preserved, unlike in other authorities.
"But we know that our Government grant will reduce still further in future years so there are significantly tougher times still ahead of us."