Hundreds of jobs could go as councillors clash over compulsory redundancies

Tomorrow’s full council meeting will see two important papers coming to the chamber, one of which will seek approval on the use of compulsory redundancies to reduce the organisation’s workforce by up to 350 full time equivalent jobs.

The Labour administration says cuts are inevitable and a managed contraction should have started years ago, under the SNP. However, dismissing workers away will be used as a last resort, and attempts will be made to upskill and redeploy people where possible.

At the least, it is hoped people will take a voluntary severance package and leave Kilncraigs with a bit of money in the pocket from the Spend to Save Fund.

On the other hand, nationalist representatives have previously distanced themselves from forcing people out the door and are almost guaranteed to go against the proposals.

Both sides are expected to come to the meeting with full force, and it will be up to sole Conservative councillor Alastair Campbell to either side with the nine SNP councillors and vote the paper down or simply sit on his hand to give them a majority over the eight Labour representatives.

At the same time, if he sides with Labour; a tie will bring an automatic win for the party with Provost Derek Stewart using his casting vote.

The Advertiser can reveal that it is close to certain the papers will go through, even if opposition representatives all stand against it firmly.

Cllr Campbell said: “I would hope that we could get an agreement from both sides on this one, really.”

Outlining his position on the redundancies, he added: “I’m afraid it, as a last resort, has to be necessary.

“The uptake of voluntary severance or redundancy hasn’t come anywhere near what it was required to do to make the savings that we needed.

“Unfortunately, the only way you can save a lot of money in a council is to cut the headcount and if people are not coming forward for voluntary [redundancy], then, at the end of the day, if you can’t redeploy them somewhere else within the council, or they are not suitable for redeployment for any other reason, the end of the line is – you’ve got to say: ‘Sorry, but we can’t offer you a job for life, we’ve got to make you compulsorily redundant’ and give them the appropriate pay off.

“The only way, I think, we can get a legal budget through is by having this in the armoury, if you like - to be used only as a last resort.”

Cllr Campbell, who has been running a local business himself for three decades, said he had to make a few cuts before, adding: “It was probably the worst thing I ever had to do in my business life and no one likes doing that kind of thing.

“It’s something you try to avoid at all cost, but there comes a time when you have no other alternative, in my view, and I think that’s where we are with the council at the moment.”

THE future of Clackmannanshire Council’s workforce and organisational structure are hanging in the balance as elected representatives will be voting on compulsory redundancies tomorrow.

Seeking approval at the full council meeting will be a paper that would allow the local authority to commission an external party and redesign the structure of the whole organisation in the face of ongoing budget pressures, future financial projections as well as stability and sustainability in general.

In order to progress the major rethink, the administration wants to use a fresh pair of impartial eyes rather than its own officers, whose jobs could also go in the process.

Money for external support would come from the Spend to Save Fund, which currently holds £354,000 uncommitted. According to the paper, comparable commissions cost between £80,000 and up to £500,000.

The trade unions at the council say the two proposals to reduce the workforce and spend money on a restructure contradict each other and employees are worried about the potential loss of their livelihoods.

Joint Trade Union Committee secretary Pam Robertson said: “There is an election in May where all elected members will have the opportunity to ask for the votes of the people of Clackmannanshire.

“If they feel the need to cut jobs and slash public services then they should have the courage of their convictions, explain their position to the electorate and ask for a mandate to deliver on their vision for the future of council services in Clackmannanshire.

“They should be asking themselves will their employees, their families and indeed the general electorate be forgiving at the ballot box on any councillors who force through such drastic measures unnecessarily.”

As the Advertiser previously reported, the Wee County administration will have to set one of its most challenging budgets to date.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, the leader of the Labour administration Councillor Bobby McGill told the Advertiser: “We’ve met with officers over the last couple of months. We’ve looked at what the financial situation would be - could we have a balanced budget without taking some really hard decisions and it isn’t possible to do so.

“Redundancies have to be part of that package. It is a last resort.”

He outlined that a number of options, such as giving staff new skills and redeploying them, would have to be exhausted before any employees are sacked.

The Labour leader said a managed contraction of the workforce should have started years ago to avoid the scenario the council finds itself in today.

He added: “The truth of the matter is, we are looking at a large number of people leaving this organisation.

“It should have been happening year-on-year and it stopped under the previous administration. Indeed, we have increased numbers under the previous administration.”

Cllr McGill said he is asking staff to be prepared to work smarter and is encouraging people to come forwards with any ideas.

He also accused the SNP for failing to agree with one another while still in power, adding: “Even as a few weeks ago we had a meeting and I was getting the same political dogma again: ‘Our policy is no compulsory redundancies’.

“What happens if we are not going to have a council?
“We have to provide services. ‘Our policy is no compulsory redundancies...’

“So, it takes precedence over the communities, the service we give or anything, and that is not sustainable.

“I’m quite clear that they resigned in May because they knew; without compulsory redundancies we wouldn’t be able to put a balanced budget up.”

Councillor Les Sharp, leader of the SNP opposition, said: “I am happy to once again reaffirm the SNP’s commitment to no compulsory redundancies - the only party flip-flopping on this issue is Labour.

“This council employs many experienced officials whose expertise can be called upon so it’s unclear why Labour feel the need to spend so much on seeking the advice of outside consultants – especially since a revised structure for the delivery of services was already agreed by council last year, but has never been implemented.

“Instead of paying up to half a million pounds looking for ways to make people redundant, this money would be better spent protecting the jobs we have.”

The Labour leader explained cuts could be put off another year, but warned it would only make things worse. He said: “What we could do, I suppose, if we took the same decision [no compulsory redundancies], we could have wiped out all the reserves.

“We could have taken the money from the [Spend to Save] Fund, but next year – we are facing a harder budget still next year and the year after - it would have meant that we would put people out without any incentive. It would have been the worst thing possible for our staff.

“This has to happen, because without this, we’d actually be pushing folk out the door with next to nothing and the council wouldn’t be sustainable.”

Regarding the proposals to bring external support in for a restructure, he added: “We are very keen to bring a new set of eyes in to look at what we are doing.

“You can’t have people examining themselves; turkeys don’t vote for Christmas. So, we are looking for someone with a fresh set of eyes to come in and advise us. Not somebody that’s got any sort of role in it at the present time.

“These cuts we are looking at aren’t at just the bottom, they go through the top to the bottom. We have to look at our management structures.”

Mr Sharp did not disclose with the Advertiser how his party would set a legal budget without compulsory redundancies. The council’s external auditor, Deloitte, highlighted last September that using reserves to plug the gaps is, in its view, unsustainable.