Cornwall Council has warned that it faces losing 2,000 jobs “over the next few years” in the wake of dramatic cuts in public spending.
Council Leader Alec Robertson said that the Council is anticipating cuts of around 30% in Government funding over the next four years which means it will need to find £110 million savings from 2011 onwards.
He said: “Pay and wages make up around half of the Council’s budget so there will inevitably be job losses. Current estimates suggest that around 2,000 jobs will go over the next few years.
“The unions recognise that these cuts need to be made now if we are to avoid the need for even more job losses in the future and we will be working closely with them to minimise the impact of these losses.”
“We appreciate that this will be a very difficult time for our staff but the truth is that there is no easy solution. The longer we delay the more services and jobs are at risk.”
The Council, which is by far Cornwall’s largest employer with some 13,500 staff, will present further details of how it will make cuts in an emergency budget in November.
“Cornwall, like other parts of the country, is facing a period of unprecedented change and we need to be ready to deal with the challenges that lie ahead of us,” said Robertson. “Taking decisive action now will ensure that we are in charge of our own destiny and can make our own decisions rather than looking to others to find solutions to our problems.
“We need to review the level of the services we provide to people in Cornwall and to look carefully at how these services are being delivered.
“We know that we will have to do things differently in the future. The changes in the public sector being proposed by the Government offer opportunities as well as challenges and we need to ensure that we are ready to take full advantage of these. Delivering savings now will enable us to minimise job losses and cuts in services.
“Cornwall Council is determined to meet both the challenges and the opportunities ahead and we will be looking to work with our partners and the people of Cornwall to ensure that we create the Cornwall that we want and deserve.”
