SNP and Labour support Aberdeen City Council jobs bid

The SNP plan has angered Lib Dem coalition partners in Aberdeen

The Lib Dem/SNP coalition on Aberdeen City Council will go into a budget meeting next week split on the need for compulsory redundancies.

The council had announced 900 job cuts after staff on more than £21,000 rejected a voluntary 5% pay cut.

SNP group leader and council deputy leader Kevin Stewart later said 600 voluntary losses could be pursued.

SNP and Labour councillors voted to accept the recommendation, defeating the Lib Dems.

It would see council officers pursue the 600 voluntary redundancies instead.

The Lib Dems had said before Tuesday's meeting of the finance committee they would vote against the plan.

Members had already agreed on the job cuts, prompting threats of industrial action from unions.

The Lib Dem/SNP-led council said there was "no alternative" to the cuts as it had to make budget savings of £120m over the next five years.

However, the SNP later said it was believed there was sufficient funding for 600 voluntary redundancies.

The council leader, Lib Dem John Stewart, told BBC Scotland: "The proposal is un-costed at the moment.

"I am extremely disappointed at the way the SNP group have chosen to take this forward."

He said the SNP plan was a reaction to political pressure from Edinburgh.

'Appalling decision'

Finance Secretary John Swinney had earlier criticised the plans to introduce compulsory redundancies.

He said the step was not required and called for dialogue between unions and the local authority.

Grant Bruce, secretary of the Aberdeen branch of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) union, welcomed the new proposal in the hope it could avert the need for compulsory redundancies.

Hundreds of workers at the council have been invited by their unions to attend a mass meeting this week.

The joint unions said Thursday's meeting would give workers the chance to work out a response to the council's "appalling decision".