Redundancies at Hartlepool council as part of £600,000 savings

Another four are also at risk of being made redundant if other positions within the authority cannot be found.

The council’s budget for the coming financial year includes about £600,000 of savings in staffing costs.

A total of 25 posts are to be deleted by the council from April 1, including 15 relating to the former Inspirations Garden Centre which closed.

Of the remaining 10, three are to be compulsory redundancies, with the other posts removed by managing vacancies and voluntary redundancies.

Claire McLaren, assistant director, corporate services, told the council’s Finance and Policy Committee another four workers are also at risk of redundancy.

They are currently on trials for other positions within the authority and Ms McLaren said she was confident they would be successful.

A report to the committee stated: “The council will make every possible effort to identify suitable alternative employment for staff who are displaced as a result of organisational/service restructuring and endeavour not to make any member of staff compulsorily redundant.”

Council leader Christopher Akers-Belcher said the council had a good record of redeployment.

Out of the staff savings of £598,000 for 2018/19, £558,000 has been found from managing vacancies and voluntary redundancies. There were 76 council staff vacancies at the end of January.