More jobs to go at Doncaster Council after launch of voluntary redundancy scheme

Doncaster Council is gearing up to shed more staff as it launches a voluntary redundancy scheme.
Mayor Ros JonesMayor Ros Jones
Mayor Ros Jones

The local authority, which employs 4,450 people, launched the voluntary redundancy scheme (VR) last month and will run until November 18.

This comes after Doncaster Council confirmed in February that it would be looking to eliminate 100 positions as it attempts to slash £31million from its budget by April 2017.

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A council spokesman said they could not confirm how many staff the local authority was hoping to lose through the scheme.

Despite the imminent staff losses, the borough’s directly-elected Ros Jones says that the council has managed to reduce the number of job cuts forecast from 1,200 to 500 during her time as mayor.

She said: “This has only been possible through ensuring the council is as efficient and effective as possible.

“Doncaster Council has been faced with unprecedented budget cuts in recent years as a result of the Government’s harsh austerity measures and it is deeply disappointing that those Government cuts are set to continue in the coming years.

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“Losing staff is always a last-resort measure and we do avoid compulsory redundancies wherever possible with the vast majority of posts reduced through voluntary redundancy and retirement.

“With government grants set to be virtually eliminated by 2020 there are going to be challenging times ahead and potentially more job losses.

When asked whether the council would introduce compulsory redundancies if enough people did not opt for voluntary redundancy, a spokesman said: “The council is committed to try and achieve savings through natural wastage - such as when people leave the council for other jobs, are redeployed to other jobs or reach retirement age -and voluntary processes. However in a few cases this may not be possible and compulsory redundancies may be necessary.”