Jobs will go as part of council cash cutbacks

7:30am Thursday 24th January 2013 in News

JOBS will be lost in the wake of Thurrock Council's cash cutbacks, its cabinet has warned.

Andy Smith, Labour cabinet member for regeneration, said the authority had to be “blunt” about what the huge savings it has to make will mean.

He said: “I wasn’t going to say anything, but as it’s not been said, I think we need to be blunt and honest with our residents, because the size of the cuts are so big that we’re actually going to carry on making people lose their jobs, and making people redundant.

“Nobody around this table wants to do this, but we have no choice.

“We’ll go bust if we don’t make these savings. Unfortunately in my area, and in a lot of other areas, people will be losing their jobs in the next few months.”

Council leader John Kent replied: “Sadly, that’s absolutely right. We will receive £12million less from Government over the next two years, and that’s on top of the £7million cut that we had in this year’s budget.

“I’m confident that what we’ve set out to do, and what we’ve achieved, is being as fair as we possibly can with the savings we are proposing, and wherever we possibly can, protecting the frontline.”

Comments(16)

ebagumtrebor says...
9:09am Thu 24 Jan 13

I remember in 1998 and in 2001 when the council was Labour controlled and we had a Labour government, Thurrock Council made around 200 people redundant in each of those years. I don't remember them making such a big fuss then as they are now about making people redundant. There are some areas of the council that people would love to see got rid of but I bet they'll remain untouched. Could it be that this is such a wrench because we have an evil Tory government and in truth if Labour were in government they wouldn't bat an eyelid.

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TRANQUILDAY says...
10:08am Thu 24 Jan 13

My husband works for the council and his contract is ending on the 31st January. He will be 60 that week, what are the chances of him getting another job? Also he is the one who makes the "unsackables" work. People of Thurrock..expect litter/fly tips etc pile up as the "unsackables" will not lift a finger, they will drive round Thurrock all day doing nothing. You have all been warned!

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Cvh says...
10:39am Thu 24 Jan 13

Job losses should start at the top target the fat cats sitting in highly paid positions in TBC there are plenty

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Thurrock Trojan says...
12:42pm Thu 24 Jan 13

I agree, get rid of the idle lot up in Ivory Towers who do jack all day long and are paid generous salaries for the pleasure.

Front line staff should be protected.

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Freddy K says...
4:54pm Thu 24 Jan 13

Remove the position of Mayor from the council, after all we are a Leader led council not a Mayoral led one, surely the costs of the car and driver and the expenses would cover some of the positions.

Claw back Cllr Keilly's money as he does not deserve a penny more from the public purse.

The top bosses should also take a pay cut or be on performance related pay which could save even more money.

Do we really need so many councillors all earning expenses??

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Bernard 87 says...
9:45pm Thu 24 Jan 13

To save a few bob Thurrock Council could get rid of any 'top' manager that is in a non job.

Pay the Chief Exec half his salary.

Cut down the number of councillors. Ockendon would be a good start,

Scrap all diversity teams/units, A complete waste of money.

Stop the grants to TRUST

Get rid of some traffic wardens

Make a real effort to reclaim council tax from those who have defrauded the council.

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TRANQUILDAY says...
3:45pm Fri 25 Jan 13

Hot of the press...Thurrock Council are advertising with a well known staff agency for the following...a financial inclusion officer....whatever that is. The wage band is 5, salary between GBP19000 and GBP25000 per annum, this is a full time new position. I thought the Council were cutting jobs????

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A Dermot says...
11:25am Sat 26 Jan 13

If the Council is so poor and so badly hit by the cuts how have they increased the reserves by £8 million in 2 years and have enough cash to build 200 council houses every year and put in a bid to buy the State Cinema. I think the Labour scum who run the council are lying to the people.

I don't see one councillor voting to cut their £600,000 of councillor expenses and allowances. In fact they are increasing the number of committees so more councillors receive more money. They are scum every one of them.

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gonetothedogs says...
3:57pm Sat 26 Jan 13

Get rid of the wasters who sit on their backsides in offices and do jack squat.
Take their Council Owned cars off them and make them pay for them like "Normal Folk" have to.
Constantly updating their motors would save an absolute bomb ..that's a step in the right direction,
I find it outrageous that Council Workers earn a whopping £300 for polling day too but apparently "Anyone can apply to sit in a polling station and earn a bob or two,so I will be offering my time at the next election that's for sure.It's not exactly rocket science is it?
By the way if you've got a few coppers to spare...Can I have a new kitchen/bathroom please because i've waited 40 years and had zilch,nada,nothing apart from a kitchen sink that got replaced 3 or 4 years ago!

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luckygirl says...
8:49am Sun 27 Jan 13

For all of you who are saying so and so should be made redundant - remember this all of those workers who are unfortunate enough to be made redundant will have no choice (if they can't get another job straight away) to sign on for jsa, housing benefits, council tax benefits etc - exactly what have you achieved by wishing unemployment on people.

Gonetothedogs - why should the tax payer pay for a new kitchen/bathroom for you - why don't you save the council some money and buy your own kitchen/bathroom.

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techguy2013 says...
3:58pm Sun 27 Jan 13

the council could also get rid of the reception desk as it isn't needed and redeploy those staff else where within the building because dealing with waste and repairs etc are all done over the phone but then if a repair is easy it can be sorted by the tennant so instead of making staff redundant why don't they take staff from the positions they are not needed and put them in the positions that are needed that way there are no redundancies.

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gonetothedogs says...
8:03am Mon 28 Jan 13

luckygirl wrote:
For all of you who are saying so and so should be made redundant - remember this all of those workers who are unfortunate enough to be made redundant will have no choice (if they can't get another job straight away) to sign on for jsa, housing benefits, council tax benefits etc - exactly what have you achieved by wishing unemployment on people.

Gonetothedogs - why should the tax payer pay for a new kitchen/bathroom for you - why don't you save the council some money and buy your own kitchen/bathroom.
@Luckygirl,
I was a tax payer along with each family member..never have we claimed a penny from social,unemployment benefit in our entire working life and FYI,we have been in the position where we had no option but to replace C/H from storage heaters to Gas off our own backs and have improved the property no end.
I and my family have paid for plenty of replacement kitchens and many bathrooms in our lifetime so to begrudge OAP's a "Safe enviroment" isn't unreasonable.
The inspector who visited told us that "Unfortunately,you have looked after your home too well,so the chances of getting updated are minimal at the moment".
So get your facts straight "Love" before you thinks we can pull money out of thin air and replace bathrooms and kitchens when we are as entitled to these as tenants of Council property for 40 years.

You have no idea!!

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luckygirl says...
9:02am Mon 28 Jan 13

I think you'll find that I do have an idea and I stand by what I say- why should tax payers pay for new a new kitchen/bathroom for you, especially in a time where cutbacks are affecting everyone, including me. I would rather see front line services be able to do there jobs than pay for a someone to have a kitchen/bathroom. For your information I have had the same kitchen/bathroom for 20 years -oh wait a minute I pay a mortgage, therefore I have to pay for it myself.

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Ed Woods says...
12:16pm Mon 28 Jan 13

Why should the council replace kitchens and bathrooms that are in good repair?

People would be up in arms if this happened.

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d_2da_ougle says...
11:37pm Mon 28 Jan 13

because we pay full rent thats going up every year untill 2016 to match the private sector so we are entitled to new kitchens and bathrooms up to decent home standard in line with the decent homes policey thats why about time the council replaced mine hold up i had a inspector round the other day and their doing it within the next five years

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A Dermot says...
11:52pm Mon 28 Jan 13

d_2da_ougle wrote:
because we pay full rent thats going up every year untill 2016 to match the private sector so we are entitled to new kitchens and bathrooms up to decent home standard in line with the decent homes policey thats why about time the council replaced mine hold up i had a inspector round the other day and their doing it within the next five years
Thurrock Council's Cabinet will be voting on their decent home policy next month. Initial paperwork shows they will need to spend £68 million over the next 5 years to bring the council homes up to their yet to be agreed standard.

I wonder, because of the cost, if they will vote for a lower standard - only schedule to replace bathrooms over 35 years and kitchens over 25 years old?

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