Dundee City Council has saved more than £11 million in the last financial year as it continues to drive down its annual spend.
A report before the council’s policy and resources committee on Monday night revealed the overall amount saved since 2006/07 stands at £30m.
A programme of cost-cutting measures, including the implementation of the voluntary early retirement (VER)/redundancy scheme, has contributed to the latest reduction, with 118 employees leaving through VER over 2011/12.
Dundee City Council, like all local authorities, is tightening its belt as a result of the wider economic troubles.
Leader of the SNP-led administration Ken Guild said: ”During this period we faced an unprecedented squeeze on funding from the Westminster coalition but we managed to freeze the council tax, protect front-line services and maintain our commitment to no compulsory redundancies.
”Our Changing for the Future programme, together with improved workforce planning and the voluntary retirement/redundancy scheme, helped us balance the books and achieve our budget.”
The UK’s biggest public sector trade union Unison recognises the squeeze placed on councils but branch secretary Margaret Mcguire did voice concern at the impact to public services when experienced staff leave.
She said: ”In terms of the loss of posts as a result of voluntary redundancies there has been a reasonably consistent process for evaluating where redundancy is possible.
”We have had problems, however, with the fallout from redundancies. For instance, when senior managers have left and restructures have followed, it appears that a significant portion of the potential saving has been given to the managers on the same or immediately lower tiers.
”Huge numbers of lower-level staff have gone, often with many years of experience, without real consideration of the impact that has on the added responsibilities and workloads of the staff that remain or the gap in experience and knowledge.
”Nor is there the same haste to recognise that impact when staff inheriting those duties and workloads seek redress.
”There are few examples of automatic degradings resulting from lower-tier staff leaving. Management has dragged their heels over the implementation of a grading appeals process that should have been in place following job evaluation/single status implementation over four years ago.
”A process has finally been agreed but has been made so restrictive, it actually acts as a barrier to staff pursuing fair appeals.
”It is this obvious unfairness, on top of the growing strain that staff feel after years of being asked to do more with less, that is demotivating and demoralising our members.”
Labour group leader Kevin Keenan said he is sympathetic to the challenges faced by the city council as the financial constraints placed on the local authority by the Scottish Government mean savings are essential.
”The council obviously has to make savings and one of the ways is to cut the number of people it has,” he said. ”But I would prefer they allowed for natural wastage than continually looking at an enhancement package to let people go.”