Brent Council will cut 10% of its current workforce in a bid to save £50m by 2014 and become an organisation “fit for purpose”, it has emerged.
Chief executive Gareth Daniel has revealed that 50 management posts at the council will be axed by the end of this financial year, and a further 250 full-time posts are set to go over the course of the next few years, equating to 10% of the workforce.
Daniel hoped compulsory redundancies would be kept to a minimum. He said: “We have the tools to cut payroll and staff costs in an intelligent way, in a policy of planned workforce reduction over four years. We face tough decisions in order to transform into the type of organisation we have to become.”
Council staff will vacate at least 14 existing properties spread across the borough by 2013, with the majority set to move into a new civic centre to be built opposite Wembley Stadium.
Daniel added: “We must look, feel, and act more like a single organisation in future, ahead of our move to the new Civic Centre in 2013. The council has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to introduce a new culture, new technology and modern working practices to abolish waste, bureaucracy and duplication.
“Our traditional approach to budget management is no longer adequate. This organisation needs to be excellent and fit for purpose within four years.”
Earlier this year, the Local Government Association warned thousands of public sector jobs would be lost across the UK this year as councils struggled to cope with the impact of the recession.
Leading HR directors told Personnel Today the function must adapt if it was to survive the jobs cull.
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