Coronavirus: Colchester Borough Council to furlough up to 300 staff

A council in Essex is furloughing up to 300 staff, citing the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Colchester Borough Council plans to use the government's job retention scheme for staff unable to work due to health or family reasons and those who cannot be redeployed to other areas.

The council said it was facing a £9m shortfall due to the impact of coronavirus.

Staff would be brought back to work as soon as possible, it said.

Council leader Mark Cory said the council's gap in funding for the year was partly down to a loss of income from events and parking.

"We are doing this because it is best for our staff and the best for the people of Colchester," he said.

"Because we run a number of really important services, we have been doing really well to get out and into the community and support people; we want to make sure the black hole in the finances caused by coronavirus is not going to mean redundancies or cuts in the future."

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He said up to 300 members of staff could be furloughed, and will receive 80% of their pay from the government.

Some leisure services staff have joined the council's helpline and waste services teams and parking enforcement officers have been redeployed to help neighbourhood and cemetery and crematorium services.

It is believed up to 20 other councils have made use of the job retention scheme.

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