South Wales Evening Post - 5 February 2009
Hundreds of council jobs could be lost over the next three years as council bosses face up to a £14 million budget shortfall.
Swansea Council has been in talks with trade union officials in an effort to find savings.
A letter sent to members of a joint working group, which includes councillors, council officers and union representatives, puts forward proposals which will see 500 council jobs go over the next three years.
The letter, from council leader Chris Holley (pictured), said: "As a 'labour intensive' business, like all other parts of the public sector, our only sustainable way to deal with the challenge is to reduce headcount significantly and change the way in which we work.
"We would anticipate that we will need to reduce our workforce by more than 500 over the medium term."
Speaking ahead of today's meeting of the working group, councillor Holley said he hoped the council could avoid redundancies, with the jobs going in "natural wastage" over the next three years.
He said: "Every aspect of employment will be looked at so we can avoid compulsory redundancies.
"We will be working with all our employees to make sure we have reduction across the council in the next couple of years.
"We have a turnover figure (of staff) of about six per cent. Excluding teachers, we have between seven and eight thousand employees, so we can more than accommodate that through natural wastage."
When asked why the council had reached this position, the council leader pointed the finger of blame at the Assembly
He said that this year's Assembly settlement was an increase of 2.9 per cent, but that, with inflation at more than five per cent, a £14 million hole had opened in the council's budget.
Councillor Holley said: "We are obliged to keep low council tax.
"When you look at the reality, you can see that the Assembly got a 4.9 per cent uplift in their grant, yet they see fit to give a local authority, which provides 80 per cent of the services to the people of Swansea, just 2.9 per cent."
"This settlement is the worst I have seen in 25 years, and the people of Swansea need to remember that the minister for finance is AM for Swansea West.
The Swansea Lib Dem leader added that the council's ability to bridge the funding gap by increasing council tax levels was limited by Assembly threats to cap rises, and a lack of public acceptance for rises during times of economic hardship.
Assembly Finance Minister, and Swansea West AM Andrew Davies said: "Councillor Holley must be alone in failing to recognise that we are now in the middle of a massive global economic downturn, and that public finances in Wales and the UK are now tighter than they have been for 10 years.
"I have repeatedly warned over the past 18 months that the growth in public finances in Wales has slowed and that we must live within our means and get the maximum value for the Welsh pound. Clearly, Councillor Holley has not listened.
"Swansea Council has received a 2.9 per cent budget increase, which is the Welsh average.
"Swansea Council has to live within its means, and I would hope Councillor Holley, just like myself and my fellow citizens of Swansea, would have paid attention to the global financial situation.
"It is due to the council's own financial mismanagement that it has a £14 million black hole in its budget and has had to borrow up to the hilt. The £14 million black hole is no-one's fault but Councillor Holley's. He and his own administration got Swansea into this financial mess with financial irresponsibility and careless spending on pet projects while in power."
Councillor Holley added: "The one thing that really annoys me is we have Labour shouting and screaming about our pet projects.
"These people are living in a different world. Have the new library and leisure centre been a waste of money?
"We inherited an empty building, shut down by an administration that didn't spend any money on anything."
