Up to 481 jobs at risk as Hampshire County Council weighs up £140m savings

IMMINENT £140m cuts to council services could lead to the loss of to 481 jobs as the county tries to balance its budget.
Cuts could affect adult social careCuts could affect adult social care
Cuts could affect adult social care

Further details regarding Hampshire County Council’s proposals to change services by 2019 revealed a new figure for how the workforce could be affected.

The council is weighing up the significant savings needed with a series of crunch meetings on how services will be affected to take place next week.

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As previously reported in The News, the drastic cuts will lead to a total of £480m saved by the authority over the past 11 years.

Cllr Roy Perry, leader of Hampshire County CouncilCllr Roy Perry, leader of Hampshire County Council
Cllr Roy Perry, leader of Hampshire County Council

The papers have revealed the authority needs to save £55.9m from its health and adult social care budget, £19m from transport and £30.1m from children’s services.

While the total figure of potential job losses is not yet confirmed, papers revealed over the course of the week total the figure at 481 for a maximum and 365 at a minimum.

The authority’s Tory leader, Councillor Roy Perry, spoke on the planned savings during a cabinet meeting yesterday. He said: ‘I would say to the members of the public that times are difficult.

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‘[We need] people who can come up with ideas rather than just saying we need money. Everybody needs money and we have to understand the pressures that emergency services, health services and local government face.This is a time for imagination and for good thoughts on how we can continue to do good work and do it economically, efficiently and effectively.’

Cllr Roy Perry, leader of Hampshire County CouncilCllr Roy Perry, leader of Hampshire County Council
Cllr Roy Perry, leader of Hampshire County Council

The authority describes the £55.9m cut to adult social care as a ‘significant challenge’ but warns that services are facing a ‘significant funding cliff edge’ from 2020 once government grants have ceased.

In relation to the potential job cuts, the authority stated in the reports that natural turnover, redeployment and voluntary redundancy would be explored to handle the reductions.

Cllr Perry previously warned the authority would need to consider ‘radical ways of making ends meet.’