Up to 800 jobs will go at Powys County Council over the next four years in moves to cut costs, it was revealed today.

The authority, the biggest employer in Powys, has announced plans to shed 10 per cent of its 8,000-strong workforce between now and 2014 to help save £16 million.

Council bosses said they would be doing their best to avoid compulsory redundancies and hoped most jobs would go through “natural wastage”.

At a meeting of the council’s board in Llandrindod Wells yesterday, councillors said shedding jobs was something that would need to be done to save money.

Jeremy Patterson, council chief executive, said the authority would need to change the way it worked in order to make savings.

“We need to be looking at ways to cut costs and improve services and we have to make sure we protect our frontline services,” he said.

“We will be looking to reduce the council’s staffing levels over the next four years by 10 per cent.”

Retirement

He said he hoped jobs would be shed by people taking retirement and by not filling vacant posts. But he added that redundancies could not be ruled out.

“The council needs to start working better and differently and therefore needs to change the way it works internally and a lot of staff may not be needed in future years,” he added.

“We also need to start looking at the wage bill because if we are to shed staff, and we keep increasing salaries, we won’t end up saving any money.

“If we pay people more then we won’t reduce the spending bill.”

Mr Patterson added that the council could not keep operating in the same manner. “The council can’t keep running like it has been and changes are going to have to be made to modernise our services and save money,” he said

“While our budget is decreasing, the expectation of what we do is increasing.”

Councillors agreed with the viewpoint and said tough decisions would need to be made over the next few years.

The move will be a part of the Powys Change Plan 2010/2014, which will also be discussed by the full council at a meeting in Llandrindod Wells tomorrow.

By Anwen Evans