28th July 2010

DORCHESTER: Jobs to be cut in council shake up

by Paul Crompton

MANAGEMENT jobs are to be cut by 10 per cent within West Dorset and Weymouth councils in the biggest shake up in the area’s governance for 35 years.

Staff from West Dorset District Council and Weymouth and Portland Borough Council will soon merge to the detriment of 70 jobs as the financial squeeze is put on both councils to save up to £8.5 million over the next five years.

The cuts will come over a period of years as job roles are integrated as both councils become a single management structure.

The cuts will come from a combination of existing vacancies, natural wastage, temporary roles, and where necessary, redundancy.

WDDC had previously voted in favour of the move, which was sanctioned by a unanimous decision by WPBC councillors during their full meeting last week.

The joint workforce would deliver services to 162,000 residents, over 6,100 businesses and the millions of visitors to the areas governed by both councils.

It is thought the move, which has not been attempted anywhere else in the country, would protect and improve services by offering a single officer structure for both councils, including one chief executive and one management team instead of the current two.

WPBC leader and Corporate Affairs and Continuous Improvement Brief holder, Councillor Geoff Petherick said: “Local government is facing huge financial pressures, which could lead to devastating cuts in service. Although we will still face some difficult choices, by sharing our officer structures across two councils, we can make significant savings and efficiencies that can be used to help protect vital services and make improvements where needed.

“This is a major opportunity for us to actually respond to enormous change that the prime minister has mentioned.

“The process offers significant benefits and greater resilience and put us in a position where we can change services around and improve quality of those services also have economic benefits.”

Both Councils have experience of successfully working together, through their pioneering Revenues and Benefits Partnership, where they have improved services and saved £200,000 each year making a total saving of £1,000,000 since the partnership began.

A WPBC statement said in preparing the Business Case they had given consideration as to how the Partnership fitted into wider arrangements for collaboration with other public sector providers across Dorset, and with Bournemouth and Poole, with the aim being to ensure nothing prejudices further wider collaboration in the medium to long term.

DORCHESTER: Jobs to be cut in council shake up

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