More than 130 people have left Bath & North East Somerset Council this year, with payouts of £4.75 million as the authority seeks to cut its wage bill.

Chief Executive, Ashley Ayre, overseen by a board of councillors, has been tasked with management restructuring and ‘organisational redesign’ at the authority in 2018/19 and 2019/20.

The Council says emphasis is being placed on protecting front-line services and critical roles. Some staff cannot volunteer for redundancy, and have been excluded from the savings targets because they work on the front line, or will be difficult to replace.

These include social workers, waste operatives, Avon Pension Fund staff, apprentices, crematorium assistants, security staff, those working on the Modern Libraries review and frontline staff in heritage services.

Some 300 full-time-equivalent jobs are to go overall from the workforce of 2,000 full-time-equivalent staff – or fifteen percent. Two-thirds of the positions are being cut this financial year, with the rest happening as early as possible between April 2019 and April 2020.

Papers for the Resources Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel meeting on 28th November reveal that 138 redundancies have been agreed so far – a mixture of voluntary and compulsory, that equate to 105 full-time-equivalent jobs. The redundancies will cost the Council £4.75 million over two years, but will save it £4.28 million a year.

At Senior Management level, one Strategic Director post has gone so far, along with two Divisional Director roles and seven heads of service. They will receive £928,000 in redundancy payouts over two years and the Council will save £836,000 a year.

The committee papers say: “This Council has previously been able to minimise the need for compulsory redundancies by seeking volunteers with a suitably targeted approach, redeployment and by anticipating natural staff turnover.

“There has been a strong programme of staff engagement to develop and establish the changes in roles and

responsibilities. A series of ‘town hall’-style meetings have been held with frontline staff to engage them directly in the discussion of the changes being made and the challenges faced.”

In 2018/19, B&NES Council has cut its community meals, catering for schools and its Arts Development Service. It has also redesigned eleven departments, ranging from its Youth Connect service to public protection, and “staffing savings” are planned in the Highways, Finance and Children and Young People’s services, among others.

B&NES Council also says it is working more closely with the area’s Clinical Commissioning Group to reduce costs for both organisations. It is doing the same with the West of England Combined Authority, looking at “opportunities to work more efficiently, build resilience and with reduced headcount”.

The authority is also considering functions that it could share with neighbouring authorities in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

The papers say: “Such changes will require careful discussion and preparation to ensure that the interests of B&NES Council are protected, and therefore this is not a “quick fix” option.”

Stephen Sumner, Local Democracy Reporter