£2m Mendip District Council cuts expected

Spending cuts of £2m are expected to be made by Mendip District Council for next year's budget.

Nearly £1m in savings will be made by cutting management jobs and vacant posts with a further £494,000 reduction in contracts for public services.

Council leader Harvey Siggs (Con) said: "We have no other option but to look at the way we deliver services and make some difficult decisions."

The recommendations will be put forward at a cabinet meeting on 15 December.

The leader of the opposition at the council, Claire Hudson (Lib Dem) said: "The Conservatives have seen fit not to share much with us, instead they have chosen to keep everything secret, but we're certainly not very happy about the cuts."

If the proposals are approved, there will be an overall reduction in the council's management team from 35 to 17, saving the council around £250,000.

There are also plans to delete 12 vacant posts to save £405,000 and shrink the management team, saving £276,000.

A further 45 staff will be handed "at risk" notifications, although the council has said the actual number of redundancies will be "significantly lower".

Fourteen voluntary redundancies have already been accepted by the council.

Other areas of cutbacks include £97,000 to the voluntary sector.

Mendip District Council has based its proposals on an expected 7.1 per cent cut in its budget per year as a result of the government's Spending Review.