Dorset Council set to cut up to 300 jobs to save cash
The authority say it'll reduce their wage bill by £12.5 million
Dorset Council is planning to cut £12.5million from its pay bill – losing between 250 and 300 jobs.
The saving will be made by the loss of some positions as well as vacancies being held while the authority undergoes what it describes as a ‘transformation programme’ to adopt what it hopes will be more efficient ways of working.
The main staff union, Unison, has warned that over the next four or five years the authority is likely to shed “hundreds of jobs” and has warned that many will be from lower pay grades.
it is urging the council to offer re-training, rather than shedding people, where posts are phased out.
Conservative minority group leader Cllr Andrew Parry has warned that the 2026/27 budget is likely to be Dorset Council’s hardest with the consequence of not getting the preparation right in the coming 25/26 financial year potentially leading to eventual bankruptcy.
Chief finance officer Aidan Dunn told councillors that to avoid future problems the council needed to now deliver on both its savings and transformation programmes.
He stressed that for the moment the council has sufficient financial reserves and has ear-marked £12million for contingencies in the 2025-26 financial year to give it some wiggle room for unexpected demand for services.
He told councillors that at the end of March 2024, the council had £37.7m in general reserves and £122million in ear-marked reserves.
By the end of this financial year, in April 2025, reserves are expected to have reduced to around £97million in total, £22million of that in a general fund which can be used for almost anything; the rest set aside for specific projects.
“This is why the transformation programme is so important; to re-shape the council; reduce the costs of running it; and setting us up for the following years… we need to make sure we deliver on our transformation this coming year, otherwise that’s when we are in a difficult position,” said Mr Dunn.
The senior officer said the council also had plans to start building up reserves again, with a proposal to put at least £3m back into the fund during the coming year.
Discussions are continuing at the council as it prepares to introduce new technology, including Artificial Intelligence equipment, to help deal with customers with less staff intervention.
The authority says that increased use of automation for customer contacts will free staff to offer a person-to-person service for customers who are unable, or not confident, to use IT solutions.