Salford City Council 'may cut 800 jobs'

Salford City Council is considering shedding 800 jobs to make savings of £45m over the next 12 months.

A council budget report said that the number of threatened posts had been calculated on "a proportionate basis".

The figure has been put before council members during a consultation period with staff over redundancies.

So far 750 workers have indicated that they would take early retirement or voluntary redundancy.

The jobs are expected to be cut across the Labour-run council, including social services.

The report detailed that the authority needs £303m over the next year to deliver services, but the loss of funding including deprivation grants has left it with a £256m budget.

A council spokeswoman said that £18.7m of savings had so far been identified through the natural wastage of 378 jobs.

The budget needs to be finalised by 2 March.

'Help and support'

The report said: "On a proportionate basis, around 800 jobs may well be lost in achieving the full savings target.

"It remains a key objective to avoid compulsory redundancy wherever necessary."

City council leader John Merry said: "As a democratically-elected city council we have a huge responsibility towards our communities and it is inevitable that severe budget cuts will impact on some of the services we provide.

"Our priority now is to ensure key services are maintained and people continue to get the help and support they need."