MORE jobs are to be cut at Manchester City Council in an effort to save £80m over the next two years.
This latest announcement from Manchester City Council follows the £170m budget cut imposed by central government in the city last year.
"This is a very difficult time for Manchester City Council staff and, indeed, Manchester residents."
Manchester City Council Leader Sir Richard Leese said: "This is a very difficult time for Manchester City Council staff and, indeed, Manchester residents. We have already seen our staff levels reduced by more than 2,000 over the past two years, after the government-imposed £109m of cuts last year, rising to £170m this year.
"It's important to stress that we don't have the details of our financial settlement yet, but our best estimate is that it could impose another £80m of cuts. This is going to put even more pressure on our services - and on staff who are doing a great job delivering those services - and will mean that we will have to radically rethink how we provide for Manchester people.
"Staffing costs are a significant proportion of expenditure and we believe that the necessary reduction could be in the region of 700 to 900 posts.
"As a result we are introducing a voluntary early retirement and severance schemes, although no applications will be approved until after we have received our settlement from government and on that basis have set a budget. The Council remains committed to aiming to avoid compulsory redundancies.
"Despite this news, we remain committed to ensuring we protect and support Manchester's most vulnerable people, while delivering our essential services efficiently and effectively and doing all we can to attract jobs and investment to the city and continue to grow our economy."
In the days following the publication of the government's financial settlement, Manchester City Council will assess what this means for the Council and Manchester people. Full proposals on how Manchester City Council aims to deal with the spending reduction, will be available in January.
