Teen beauty spot drinkers are ramblers, not rebels
- Dave Burrows
Shropshire Council will face £8m redundancy bill
Saturday 18th February 2012, 11:09AM GMT.
Shropshire Council will spend more than £8 million on making members of its own staff redundant in the coming year, it has been revealed today.
The figure has outraged campaigners, who say the money would be better spent on maintaining council services.
But the council, which is having to save £86 million over the next four years, said the redundancies were a result of management restructuring, which would save money in the long term.
At least 100 posts will go over the next two years, on top of 30 senior management roles axed already.
County businessman Geoff Hardy, of anti-cuts group Shropshire Fights Back, said: “Yet again we are being hit financially by this council.
“Robbing Peter to pay Paul is a false economy.
“The real shame is that £8.5 million would go a long way to saving day centres, meals on wheels, the reference library and school closures.”
But Councillor Barrow hit back, saying: “The majority of redundancy costs are a result of our management restructure, which will reduce our management overheads by 30 per cent and save about £5.5 million every year from 2012/13.
“There are no plans in Shropshire to make large-scale redundancies and, indeed, we have been praised by the Government for the way we are transforming our services to better meet the needs of our residents and to give real value-for-money.”
Sponsored Links
Most Commented
- Leader: Hospital parking suggestion simply nonsense
- Leader: Crimewave goes up with the mercury
- Hospital 18-week waiting list down to 800
- Parking zones fear for Shropshire hospital workers
- Protesters: We await problems at Shropshire hospitals
- MP Owen Paterson opposed to same-sex marriages
- Letter: Not much thought as villages bulldozed
Shropshire Star on Twitter
Keep updated with the latest breaking news and content on our Twitter feed.
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Shropshire Star and Express & Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
LIVE traffic updates
Road, rail and airport - latest
Our new, live traffic and travel updates service - check before you set out.
OUR NEW APP
Get the new Shropshire Star app
Download the Shropshire Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
shropshirestar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
We’ll wait and see what happens. Haven’t 100 posts already been identified as being surplus in council moves recently?
Methinks Cllr Barrow will have to eat his words.
Report abuse
Disgraceful.
Is this only to get ready to privatise? Surely it can’t be just senior managers? How many senior managers are going then?
Report abuse
£8.5m on senior managers redundancy? That’s an awful lot of senior managers…how many have they got? Surely this must include other ‘less senior’ posts?
To me, 100 posts is ‘large scale’ redundancies…unless you’re living in Keith Barrow-land.
Report abuse
So the pay cuts forced on the council workers under the guise that it would stave off redundancies was a lie.
Report abuse
Well, while I am sorry to see anyone lose their job, just how many senior positions has this unitary authoiry been funding? And how much of OUR money did the change to a unitary authority (in terms of redundancy payments to senior staff of the now disbanded district councils) cost all of us as well – something I believe which we have never been told.
Report abuse
A big part of the problem was that local government reorganisation was done in such a way that virtually everyone was guaranteed a job. I am aware of one middle manager, in his early 60′s and just returned from 9 months long term sickness who was re-employed and promoted at LGR. There are swaithes of ex district council managers who do overlapping jobs being employed. They should either have been offered early retirement or redundancy at LGR. Instead, they sat twiddling their thumbs.
The last reorganisation took some senior managers out of the structure and directly affected the pay and conditions of front line staff but middle managers, the real area of overstaffing was ignored. I am aware of 1 service which has 124 staff, 25 of whome are management. One manager, on an average salary of £45,000 for 4 frontline staff in a ridiculous matrix structure engineered to give them something to do. At the same time 16 front line vacancies were not filled or were occupied by independant consultants (at approximately twice the pay of full time staff. That staff now has predominantly part time staff carrying out the majority of the day to day work.
Report abuse
I see that redundancies were made only last week, with 40% of the workforce cut in one department.
Report abuse
More of the Tory free-market destruction of our public sector.
Funny how our ConDems are more than happy to bail out our failing bank system, yet vital services to Shropshire tax-payers are stopped without any consideration.
Report abuse
Putting things in perspective
how many managers have Telford and Wrekin got rid off through natural wastage and redundancy?
How much did they pay to get rid of THEIR chief executive to employ a Council Manager?
Redundancy costs tend to be one-offs, while paying salaries has to be done year in year out, and when you have to save 80+ million you have to do it somewhere. Where else do you think that kind of real reductions could be made?
Report abuse
if they are contractually allowed that then fairs fair
the other option of course we be not to sack them ? = £0 redundancy costs?
but then people would moan there are too many managers in the council
you cant have it both way people!
if people work hard and serve us well and do nothing wrong and then get laid off just to satisfy another tory economic experiment then atleast they deserve a pay off, it will take many of them months to find new work at the moment and this will be how their family eats in that interim period!
Report abuse
the world of clr. barrow and the other tory’s is a parallel uivirse
Report abuse
it just goes to show how over bloated an over managed they are there! anyone who can lose that much staff from their business without any change to the outputs well it beggars beleif how much waste there must be there, in the real world they would be out of business a long time ago
didnt lord digby jones estimate the civil service could lose 50% of its staff and still function? well shropshire council should try that because i could really use being £700 a year better off please!
Report abuse
“without any change to the outputs”
You aren’t serious are you? They cut the staff and expect existing staff to take up the slack.
A team of twenty people may be able to cover for one person. We could probably all squeeze in an extra 5% more work. However when your team is reduced from twenty to five…
There is a definitely shortfall in output, but don’t worry, the slack will soon be taken up once the public sector is privatised. At which point you will pay far more for all the services you currently take for granted. And you’ll probably be the first in the queue moaning about that too.
Report abuse
Julian
“At which point you will pay far more for all the services you currently take for granted”
And if the Veolia fiasco is anything to go by, what we end up with will not only cost more, but won’t be half as good as what we had in the first place.
Report abuse
Mary-
How on earth can you possibly argue that our services have not deteriorated over the last year or so? And judging by recent announcements things look set to get worse, whatever Keith Barrow may say.
Report abuse
A complete vindication of UNISON’s stanch all along. This administration are hell bent on stripping public services in Shropshire to the bone for the furtherance of individuals political aspirations.
£8.5 million spent on the services this county needs is a much preferable solution to slashing services and sacking staff…and then having to pay compensation when they get on out in the courts.
Never mind, perhaps we can all do the conga together !!!!!!!!
Shameful
Report abuse
How many of thes non jobs will go with the usual bumper pay off to have the same people recruited back in consultancy roles. There is no accountability for our money. It seems to be treated as a right by most councils to do what they want with. the whole system needs changing from the bottom up.
Report abuse
“Councillor Barrow hit back, saying ‘…indeed, we have been praised by the Government for the way we are transforming our services to better meet the needs of our residents and to give real value-for-money.’”
The government has imposed appalling levels of cuts, but rather than doing it themselves they have ducked responsibility by passing it on to those who actually deliver the services, including councils. Presumably they are trying to protect their own seats at the next election by passing the buck. Not surprisingly, most service providers realise that the government’s argument that, if done ‘properly’, their cuts can be made without affecting services is a farce. Most are openly concerned that, in sticking to budgets imposed by the government, the services that they provide will inevitably deteriorate and people will suffer as a result.
In Shropshire, however, our council has taken to slashing through the services that it provides to its own people with relish, and Keith Barrow seems to think that we are stupid enough to believe him when he tells us our services are not only unaffected, but ‘transformed’ for the ‘better’. I don’t know anybody who thinks that our schools, our buses, our libraries, our care of the elderly and disabled is now better than it was a couple of years ago, or that things will be better still when we have a reduced police and fire service and the further cuts to schools, public transport and social care announced recently.
It is no surprise that the government is praising Keith Barrow and cronies- they are happy to do the government’s dirty work for them and a bit of praise in return probably seems like a bargain. Even Shrewsbury’s Tory MP is opposed to some of the cuts pushed through by Shropshire Council- I wonder if his argument is, if the council is happy to take the flak for the government’s cuts, why not let them? We have a really appalling government, supported in Shropshire by a really appalling and gullible council. I hope that people remember the damage they are doing between them at the next elections and vote them both out.
Report abuse
£8M is an awful lot of redundancies – and an awful lot more people claiming benefits. Bad news for council workers and bad news for the benefits bill and our local economy (if you don’t have a job you don’t have the money to buy things).
Report abuse
Perhaps this is why the council are stashing away significant amounts of reserves even though we are told its for a rainy day!
Mr Barrow, there is a flood of epic proportions out there. If there is a time to spend to save services to our community, it is now!
Report abuse
last time i got redundant i only got 3 weeks pay!
Report abuse
LOL
You should have joined a union then!
Report abuse
And tell us all what they would have done ? week and a half for every year there excluding the first two plus holiday due they would not have saved his job . as for the 2 m guy Fantasy and tit come to mind.
Report abuse
Gutted mate
got laid off after 25 years in the city, at one of the big 5 accountancy firms, pay off was about 2 million, and i can take my pension early too, nice! Now retired to Shropshire aged 50, now living la dolce vita between here and my second home in france,
you should have gone to uni
Report abuse
Gutted for you mate.
I got mine too. Earlier. V. similar terms.
Didn’t even go to Uni.
Report abuse
You couldn’t have been there long! 3 weeks pay would not cover statutory redundancy pay unless you were 21 and had worked for that employer for six years i.e. from age 15. (statutory weeks pay is £430).
Report abuse
I was made redundant when the factory that I worked in closed down in 1976 ( Warner-Swasey ) From starting as a apprentice in 1957 to it’s closure a total of 19 years I received £710 in redundancy pay.
Report abuse
But that could buy 10 houses on Heath Farm in those olden days John.
Report abuse
nice work if you can get it…
Thats £85,000 per worker!! Thats some pay off! Disgusting use of public money, these fat cat contracts should be torn up, these people should be sacked not paid off. They have failed, look at the debacle with I-pads for the top brass and the balls up with cardboard collections, dont reward failure, just sack them
Report abuse
Or they are planning far more than 100 redundancies, which in my experience is more likely.
Report abuse
some pigs are more equal than others
Report abuse
Simply enforce statutory redundancy payments and save lots of cash? Stangely our Armed Forces are not even afforded the luxury of the law that protects the rest of us. An Army chap with 36 years under his belt is being dismissed with only 3 months redundancy pay – a total disgrace that mirrors whichever colour UK party that fills the chair.
Report abuse
and be in breach of contract and spend a lot of time in employment tribunals.
Report abuse
Amazing thing is that the Chief Executive and his top management team are:-
Responsible for less staff.
Responsible for lower budgets
Responsible for less services
Responsible for less buildings and other assets;
than when they were appointed but they are not being downgraded or their numbers reduced like lower graded staff who are actually taking on more work and responsibility.
10% reduction in all of the above would be a considerable saving e.g.10% of £180,000 is £18,000 off the Chief Executives salary alone.As Mr Ryley and Keith Barrow are only to keen to point out everyone is in this together but of course if the top management salaries are reduced so will their redundancy payments,if and when, its their turn to be part of the unemployment togetherness they preach.
Report abuse
They wont be missed.
Report abuse
A good case of importing the American hire and fire system , holiday pay and good by is all that is and should be required ,
“cant afford you result no job off you go “
Report abuse
We do things in a slightly more civilised way in AAA rated countries MBTIE. If anywhere you should be looking to the more beneficial German model of employee protection I would say. They have a stronger economy that the US.
Report abuse
What Cllr Barrow omits to mention is that Shropshire Council have already made 164 redundancies (by Aug. 2011). The extra planned 100 and the additional figure between last Aug and now means that there will be over 300 redundancies by the end of 2013 – if not more.
Since April 2009, 529 posts have been deleted and 60-70 more are in the pipeleine with the shared services redesign.
If this isn’t `large scale` then I don’t know what is!
Report abuse
That soesn’t include those that have jumped ship to other authorities. There is a distinct attitude that if you disagree with the approach of the current senior management your cards are marked and you may be forced out.
Report abuse
Point is jobs go for a reason ie staff not required as with the miners we cant subsidies the un-wanted and why should we.
Report abuse
Errrr… to save having to import coal from russia and create jobs and energy security in the uk reducing our balance of payments and thus our deficit and making us more resiliant to international oil price shocks… just an idea…
Report abuse
Err sorry sean do not waste your time or energy going down that road in support of the pits .
Report abuse
4 million for barrow, 4 million for ryeley, good riddance to them, its worth every penny to see them out of work
Report abuse
Shropshire council, spending your money like it was their own, pass another sandwich kym
Report abuse
We needed coal in the eighties – Thatcher just wanted to break the NUM and was prepared to import cheap coal from Poland to do it.
What do you reckon happened to the price of the ‘cheap’ coal once we shut our mines?
Much like what will happen when he privatise our public services – we’ll all be paying more.
Report abuse
no sympathy from me they are all over paid underworked and take rediculous decisions to waste my money on concrete sculptures which no one wants if i had my way even more of them would be sacked
Report abuse
Why can no-one in these forums spell ‘ridiculous’?
Report abuse
It is only the people who offer up ridiculous opinions who are unable to spell ridiculous. Strange but true.
Report abuse
I’m not going to spend too much time on the rights and wrongs of this debate and clearly a lot of water will have gone under the bridge by the next elections, but… the councillors were elected in a democratic process. There have been many comments in this thread and others about incompetence, profligacy, vested interests and other, usually unsubstantiated, allegations.
In May 2013 there will be another opportunity to elect councillors who you believe will most closely represent your wishes.
I you can’t find any that will do your bidding, stand for election yourself. Now is the time to start building your political hinterland. Easy isn’t it?
Report abuse
Good. There are far too many middle managers and non-jobs at the council, they could lose five times that number and I dont think anyone would notice. What do they really do all day? Just shuffling paperwork around at OUR expense.
I have total respect for the broom pushers on the streets and the bin men but these are a minority no the real cost is the thousands of pen pushers in shire hall who work a comfortable 35 hour week with time off for lunch and pensions and all the things which the rest of us dont get anymore
Report abuse
Public sector workers really are on another planet. do they not read the papers? the nation is on its knees thanks to clown brown and those labour loony lefties who should be up in front of a judge along with fred the shred in my opinion or the gallows better still but everyone else is getting pay cuts whilst these moderate but essential austerity measures kick in and the public sector needs to remember who is the boss its us the taxpayer who pay their wages and so they ought to shape up or ship out and stop expecting rediculous working conditions which nobody can afford and nobody in the real productive private sector gets so why should they? in private business these people would be out on their ear with minimum statutory redundancy pay let alone any pension which these people will still be getting for years after the retire
basically they dont know how lucky they are
Report abuse
Moderate austerity measures? Moderate? Not when it’s hurting the sick and those most vulnerable, closing schools, libraries, privatising essential services like meals on wheels, increasing VAT which will hurt pensioners most, instead of hitting where it’s least likely to hurt. I’m talking about increasing tax for the richest in our society, stopping their offshore tax loopholes, and making sure businesses pay the right amount of tax (eg Vodafone).
So basically I’m saying that those most able to pay should be paying instead of those least able.
Makes sense?
Report abuse
This is where perhaps families should start looking after their own and not relying on the state?? just an idea.
Unfortunately another silly ps strike looms and again schools will be closed and children will suffer due to that one day and that is a FACT i am told, all because teachers choose to strike .
Funny how a child’s education gets put to the back when we are talking peoples wages etc , speaking as someone who had a request knocked back by a school to take my children out for one day for a family wedding and a first and only request in 14 years and they had excellent attendance level , but that ONE day would have a terrible effect on the children even though they are doing well and are very bright mr&mrs g, hypocrites .Excuse bad spelling/grammar as they normally pull that one out of the bag ie go for the weakest point oh we are not fat, bold, social tenants , chavs just in case they use that excuse as well .
Report abuse
“This is where perhaps families should start looking after their own and not relying on the state?? just an idea.”
Shame they can’t – for some reason we seem to have an economy which works against that and means that people are forced to leave their families to find work. I’m currently 300 miles from Shropshire as I had to leave to find work. How do you suggest I look after family??
Just another contradictory view from someone unable to see the bigger picture as per your comments re the miners.
Report abuse
Blue boy,
Your grasp of economics, and of life in the public sector, is tenuous to say the least.
The current debt problems were caused not by the previous administration, but by the greed of the banks and the private sector. Almost half of the government’s debt at the point of handover was caused directly by having to cover the debts of failed private sector banks.
The remaining debt, when considered in real terms (i.e. as a percentage of GDP) was not much higher that that handed over by the Conservative administration in 1997 – and of course the outgoing Labour administration had spent the money on items such as reductions in NHS waiting lists and on large-scale infrastructure improvements to our schools – rather than on huge tax cuts for the wealthy and high unemployement as exemplified by the Thatcher regime back in the 80s.
The ‘moderate’ austerity measures you claim involve the loss of public services for people who most need them, large-scale reductions in police numbers and of course the privatisation of much of our NHS in order to divert public funds into private profit. Is that really more efficient?
I’ve worked in both the public and private sector – and I can assure you that there is far more mindless bureaucracy in large private sector companies than I ever encountered in public service.
Try opening your eyes in future, and look for facts beyond the tabloids rather than simply regurgitating the endless feed of inaccurate Tory propaganda they provide.
Your spelling and punctuation could do with some work too…
Report abuse
Peter,
Well said. You’ve hit the nail well and truly on the head.
Report abuse
No we dont want these lies, stop it, stop it my eyes hurt reading this it does not commute, i musnt be true, it cannot be true, it was labour who did it, gordon brown spent every penny it was all him i read it in the daily mail so it must be true
Report abuse
Careful Peter – you’re in danger of spoiling this debate by introducing facts into it. How dare you!
Report abuse
I got sacked from a public sector job (university)and was replaced by someone on half my salary who can’t speak English. I came out with a good deal and am now self employed but I won’t say it didn’t hurt – a lot.
Report abuse
This text is taken direct from the direct.gov website, it clearly states that crown servants or employees in a public office are not entitled to statutory redundency.
Employees not entitled to redundancy payment
“If you fall into the following categories then you are not entitled to receive statutory redundancy pay:
•members of the armed forces
•House of Lords and House of Commons staff
•some apprentices – although you should check your contract
•some employees with fixed-term contracts before 1 October 2002 – you should check your contract of employment
•domestic servants working in private homes who are members of the employer’s immediate close family
•share fishermen paid only by a share in the proceeds of the catch
•Crown servants or employees in a public office
•employees of the government of an overseas territory”
Report abuse
Local government workers are noty crown servants, we don’t get her Maj’s breakfast and we are not employees in public office an example of which would be a lady in waiting.
Report abuse
The previous cheif exec was paid 162,000 mr rylie was employed and paid 180,000 this was under tory control i love the torys as they do look after the rich whilst the rest can go to hell ever feel cheated??????????.
Report abuse
Yes but he is responsible for so much more stuff than the old cheif executives, with the new council there is more budgets and more responsibility and stuff,
oh no hang on a minute, his responsibility is reduced every single day as the cuts bite he gets less and less management responsibilty, smaller budgets and less services to manage
so how come his pay aint shrinking?
Report abuse
So, the senior managers will get a diamond encrusted golden handshake. No doubt enough for them to pay off their mortgages for their 5 bedroom houses and live comfortably. The poor taxpayer is the one funding this. Disgraceful.
Report abuse
disgusting people these are real people being sacked here, and they are public servants, they work not for profit for public service helping people not for money but for the greater good, some people on here are just rude, this is a sad day
Report abuse
It is sad that people in Shropshire have such vitriol against public service workers. Many of their complaints appear to be about decisions made by conservative councillors on shropshire council e.g on waste collection systems and on public art. These are not decided by officers or managers at the Council! These are political decisions about how to spend (or not) your money. They could have used it for social housing projects or extra waste collections or tax cuts or anything they wanted but they call the shots. So dont blame staff blame councillors. If you dont like them, they work for you! So vote them out, dont shoot the messengers!
Report abuse
this is just the start of it, austerity will be continuing for another 5 years yet whoever is in power it will take 10-12 years to pay back the debt. We are in for a lost decade like Japan and it will be zero to 1% GDP growth per annum for a decade and continual cuts to public services and privatisation for years to come
sorry to sound gloomy but that is the truth, you are best off emigrating to australia/new zealand for a decade if you are a nurse, copper, planner, environmental health officer, teacher, bin man etc, in the UK your wages will not rise and your cost of living will increase for atleast a decade
Report abuse
there are too many middle managers at the council
its not a slight on them, they are im sure nice people and did well to get where they are but there isnt enough money to fund them and its not a very effective structure when there is no opportunities for young talent to move up so there is a need for a clear out and it has to be right to compensate people with a fair redundancy package but the public should not protest because if you give someone several months pay then it pays for itself within a year
think about it, manager on £45,000 per annum with 20 years service = 20 weeks pay or about £20,000 to say goodbye to them
pay back period = 0.44 years – so in less than 6 months the taxpayer is better off
no grumbles, sad to see talent leave but the council taxpayers will be better off long term
Report abuse
Well, my dealings with the council involve jobsworth planners who cost me a fortune, parking wardens who show no flexibility (not even a few minutes), teachers who dont enforce discipline in our school, bin men who seem to delight in leaving our bin deliberately blocking our driveway, call centre staff who can barely string a sentence together, office workers who take nearly a month to respond to a letter and inept politicians who dont even respond to e-mails at all.
And thats when they’re not on strike or off sick! On top of that they have the cheek to employ a cheif executive who earns more than the Prime Mininster! And expect a pension on par with a banker paid for by people who no longer get company pensions at all!
I am sorry but you will not be missed but that 8 million of our money will be!
Report abuse
Interesting to note in your rant that public servants who enforce the law are expected to show flexibility rather than do their job – when it suits you. Are you the face of modern business? A bit selfish aren’t you?
Report abuse
surely 8 million going into local peoples pockets in the la la land of lefty economics is a stimulus for GDP? i am suprised ed balls and unions dont support this with their simpleton economics
Report abuse
that cant be true,
8.5 million for 100 people would be too much it would imply all the people they are getting rid of are over 40 and have done many many years service
in reality a sensible hr team will look to make younger people redundant first as its cheaper
they could probably reduce this figure to a few thousand pounds per head if they are shrewd about it thus keeping the net bill down to less than half a million, no where near the 8 quoted
Report abuse
If they’ve got £8.5 million in the bank, why the hell haven’t they sorted out some extra cardboard collecting trucks yet?
Shropshire council is a shambolic and badly run adminstration, it knows the price of everything but the value of nothing, it wastes money right left and centre and yet it cant even get the basics right
Vote them out!
Report abuse