Lincs Council Cuts

26 January 2011, 14:04 | Updated: 10 February 2011, 14:04

More than 600 staff at the County Council covering Spalding, Holbeach, Stamford and Bourne are to lose their jobs.

Lincolnshire County Council's confirmed 818 people are taking either compulsory or voluntary redundancy, the equivalent of 607 full-time posts.

That means around a quarter of the Council's whole workforce will soon be out of a job.

The largest reductions are proposed in children's services, as this is where a large number of council staff is employed.

Lincolnshire County Council needs to save £125 million over the next four years, after it's government funding was cut by 28%.

Cllr Kelly Smith, Executive Councillor for Finance and HR, said:"Difficult times call for difficult decisions, and to meet a tough budget we have had to look to deliver services in a different way.

Unfortunately staffing reductions are inevitable, however wherever possible we hope that voluntary redundancies will minimise the number of compulsory redundancies that have to be made.

We recognise that this is a difficult time for our staff and are increasing support available to them, as well as helping them access opportunities for alternative employment in the future.

We do not want to have to review services again as this would lead to uncertainty for our staff in the future so we are taking action promptly."