Coventry council plans to axe 200 jobs in bid to save £5m

The council has ruled out selling off assets and using reserves to cover the shortfall



Coventry council is set to shed a further 200 jobs in a bid to reduce its staffing budget by another £5million.

The plans come as the council releases its budget plans which target £36m of savings by 2020 as it faces further reductions to central government funding.

Since 2010 the council has lost about 2,100 posts and, as a result, its title as the city’s biggest employer.

The council is also proposing a four per cent council tax increase and major cuts to council services including changes to bin collections, potential increased car parking charges and possible future reductions in council tax support for the city’s poorest.

The council wants to reduce its spending by £35.9m by 2020 and the biggest savings will come from job losses.

It is thought about 200 roles will be axed in a bid to shave a £5m from the annual budget. Council officials say they will try to avoid compulsory redundances and hope to meet the target by the end of January.

The losses will be in addition to the 2,100 posts which have been cut since 2010 - saving more than £50m a year. That has seen the council lose its title as the city’s biggest employer.

Asked if the council had traditionally been overstaffed, Coun Mutton said: “Those people who lost their jobs lost them through no fault of their own. It’s a result of government cuts. I feel sorry for every single person who has lost their job.

“There has always been the right number of people to deliver the services that we are delivering. Now we get £95m a year less in the government grant we’re not able to deliver all those services. You can’t employ people to deliver non-existent services.”

How many times does this council make people redundant then re-employ them on a self employed contract basis? - Does Mutton really think we don't know that jobs for the boys are still going on?