Surrey County Council to shed 650 jobs

Up to 650 jobs are set to be lost as Surrey County Council looks to save more than £200m over four years.

The Conservative-run council has drawn up plans to shed posts up to 2015, with up to 250 roles set to go in 2011/12.

A council spokesman said it intended to limit the number of redundancies by leaving vacancies unfilled and redeploying staff where possible.

He said the authority had taken early action to make savings following the disclosure of government spending cuts.

The public sector union Unison said it was given the impression by the council that the number of jobs lost would be far lower.

'Good planning'

Chris Leary, of Surrey County Unison, said: "When the public realise what this means in reality, the people of Surrey will not just stand idly by and let the politicians decimate services.

"We will defend our members' jobs and support them in whatever action they choose to take, including lawful industrial action."

Surrey County Council deputy leader, councillor David Hodge, said: "It has been tough and it is going to get tougher but thanks to good planning over the last 18 months we have already identified significant savings to make sure we provide residents with value for money.

"Across the council there will be changes to the way services are delivered to truly provide value for money.

"Unfortunately, there will be some redundancies but thanks to careful planning and preparation we will keep these to a minimum."