Ref. 29640-15COUNCIL department directors are to be given a stark order to cut their spending or jobs may have to be lost, it is feared.

And leader Mike Bawden plans to tell them: don't come back to me with cuts in frontline services.

All 8,000 council staff have been sent a letter saying the authority wants across-the-board efficiency savings for the next three years half a per cent more than the targets set for councils by the Government.

The Conservative council also aims to make good on its pledge to restrain council tax increases by keeping them to no more than three per cent per year over the same period.

Coun Bawden insists that the plans neither mean nor rule out redundancies but the move has come under attack from opposition parties and trade unions.

Labour Group deputy leader Barrie Thompson (Parks) said: "This letter is going to create a lot of trepidation among staff, who will be worrying that they are about to lose their jobs.

"Efficiency savings does not necessarily mean that jobs have to go. Other organisations have made efficiency savings and yet actually managed to increase staffing levels."

LibDem leader Chris Shepherd (Freshbrook and Grange Park) added: "What we must recognise is that Swindon has one of the lowest council tax rates in the West Country and that the Government grant to the council is also one of the lowest.

"This means that there is little scope for making savings without affecting services."

Efficiency savings and restrictions on council tax increases are part of the current regime's policy.

However, Coun Bawden (Con, Old Town and Lawn) pointed out that they were also in line with instructions issued to local authorities by Local Government Minister Nick Raynsford.

The Minister called for savings of 2.5 per cent per year.

Coun Bawden added: "We will be giving department directors and lead members limits on how much their departments can spend next year.

"We will tell them to go and look at their budgets, but not to come back to us with cuts in frontline services.

"This is part of our commitment to delivering the best value and greatest efficiency in services for the council tax payers."

The total bill for running council services in Swindon for the next financial year is estimated at up to £190m.

Trade unions representing council workers have also voiced deep concerns about the authority's cost-cutting.

Roger Avery is principal Swindon officer for Unison, which represents about 3,000 staff ranging from managers to frontline staff.

He said: "We would like to have been consulted properly by the council instead of just being told that savings had to be made and that a letter was being sent to staff.

"Morale among many staff is already low because of poor reports the council has had from the Government, and this is only making things worse."

Local GMB union organiser Andy Prendergast said: "As a union, we are always willing to meet with the council to discuss ways in which good value, high-quality services can be delivered.

"However, we are well aware that so-called efficiency savings are little more than massive cuts in services which can ill afford them."

Workers left in limbo

One employee who asked not to be named said: "I'm worried obviously but we've had these things before and it's never affected the people that I work with. They always seem to make cutbacks in some other way.

"Everybody is concerned but there's no panic or anything.

"We had a meeting on Wednesday with the management when they said there would be no cuts, and then this letter arrives.

"But the letter doesn't really say anything, so we are in the dark. Things are not what they seem to be.

"But there are big problems here. The building needs sorting, the lighting is bad and there is no central heating. Some sections have no electricity for the next eight weeks.

"The workers have been left in limbo."

Barrie Hudson