More than 200 Swindon Borough Council jobs could go

Nearly 240 jobs could go at Swindon Borough Council if councillors vote in favour of proposed cuts.

The Tory-run authority has released some details of plans for its emergency budget, due to be announced in October.

Some 140 posts in Children's Services and Adult Social Care could go by the end of next year. The people at risk have been notified.

The council plans to make £20m of savings by March 2012. The proposals go before the cabinet next Wednesday.

Council leader Rod Bluh said about 237 posts would be "deleted", meaning there would be redundancies of between 100 and 200 people.

'Where they stand'

He said many posts would be closed through not filling vacant roles.

"The morale in the organisation inevitably is not great at the moment because everybody is wondering whether their job is at risk," he said.

"I think people need to know where they stand."

He said the council was increasingly using technology to reduce the number of people needed to deliver care. It was also looking at giving people more control over their care budgets.

"The whole way we deliver care for the elderly and for vulnerable people is changing as a nation," he said.

"It's not just a matter of reducing resources here, we've got massively increasing demand because people are living longer.

"We've got to have a really grown up debate about how we are going to cope."