Fears that Hartlepool Borough Council budget cuts will be 'piling the pressure' on staff

Hartlepool Borough Council has earmarked £1.768million in potential savings “which have the least impact on services and staffing levels” to potentially be implemented in 2023-24 to help provide a balanced budget.

The proposed savings have been going before council committees for comments ahead of a final decision next week.

At the latest meeting of the adult and community based services committee, Councillor Ben Clayton questioned whether the proposals, which include removing a number of vacant posts, will put more pressure on staff.

He said: “I’m just conscious whether this budget is piling the pressure on officers that are still in employment with sharing those vacant duties.”

Jill Harrison, director of adult and community based services, said it is “inevitable” it will impact on remaining staff in those areas to some level.

She said: “I think that’s for us to manage as best we can, that may mean we need to prioritise, there may be some things that we can’t continue to do or can’t do at the same level.

“We’ve taken the approach of looking at the services where we think that impact can be managed best and where we can minimise the impact in terms of compulsory redundancies.”

Chris Little, director of resources and development, said at the moment they have “at worst two compulsory redundancies” although they are “working to try and minimise that to nil”.

Council officers added that a variety of mental health and stress support initiatives are in place for staff.