Telford & Wrekin Council to reduce size of Management Team to save £350,000 a year

The Council faces cuts of at least £10 million per year in the next three years, after already making £80 million of cuts since 2010.

The changes announced today by Managing Director, Richard Partington, will see the Council's Management Team cut by a further 20%, cutting costs by £350,000 a year.

These latest changes will see one Director post and two Assistant Director posts cut, with other roles being revised to focus on the Council plans including additional funding for key services, particularly Adult Social Care, from a more commercial approach.

The new Management Team will have two key director roles:

• Director of Children's & Adult Services leading on services to help, support and protect the most vulnerable children, adults and families in the borough.

• Director of Customer, Neighbourhood & Well-Being Services who will lead on frontline services such as environmental and highways maintenance, waste collection, sport and leisure, public health and public protection. Recruitment for these two posts begins straight away.

Current Directors Laura Johnston and Paul Taylor will be retiring in the New Year.

The Managing Director, along with the Assistant Director for Business, Development & Employment, will lead the Council's very successful 'Business Winning, Business Supporting' approach, which has helped generate an extra £4 million this year in extra business rates for the borough.

Richard Partington said: "Laura Johnston and Paul Taylor have been great servants of the Council, have achieved a huge amount and had a very positive impact on our services in the community.

“They have played such a key role in developing the strategy for integrating Children's and Adult Services that we have been developing over the past 12 months and are now rolling out. They will be very hard acts to follow. I also want to thank planning specialist assistant director Michael Barker who is also retiring for his years of hard work and dedication.

"With the huge financial challenges ahead and a shrinking budget, it is only right that we look to reduce the cost of management.”

Council leader Kuldip Sahota, added: “We already have cut senior management by 50% since 2010, saving £2 million a year. This further reduction will help a little to limit the level of Government cuts to our key services.

"The next set of cuts will be our most challenging and we will need to find new ways and new approaches, working with the community. Our first priority is to protect our most vulnerable children and adults. For other services, the Government funding cuts will prove extremely challenging."

Outgoing Director for Children & Family Services Laura Johnston added:" Now is the right time to combine the management of children’s and adult services.

“This will support the council strategy of working closely with our communities to enable them to help children, families and individuals who need additional support, and ensure council resources are available for those who require intensive support and protection. I strongly believe this will lead to better outcomes for children, families and the wider community.”