City council set to axe 650 jobs

The council said no school-based staff would be affected

Up to 650 council jobs are being axed in Leeds because of "lower government grants and the economic downturn".

However the city council has said it planned to create 200 new posts, giving a net loss of about 450 positions from its 33,000-strong workforce.

A city council spokesman said the council did not anticipate any compulsory redundancies.

He also said that none of the posts affected, which will be lost over the next year, would be school-based staff.

Although Labour is the biggest group on the council, it is run by a Liberal Democrat/Conservative coalition as no party had overall control.

We have done everything we can to protect our frontline services and to minimise the impact of the losses on existing staff

Richard Brett, Leeds City Council joint leader

City council joint-leader, Richard Brett, said: "We are having to make some incredibly difficult decisions.

"It is regrettable that we've had to consider our options around the size of our workforce, but the council is in an almost impossible position.

"We have done everything we can to protect our frontline services and to minimise the impact of the losses on existing staff."

The council said the proposed reduction was "a small proportion" of its 33,000 workforce.

"The plan is to improve work attendance and to review structures with a view to making efficiencies," it said in a statement.

"Reducing the number of people on the council payroll is one of the measures officers have been forced to consider."

The council, which is proposing a 2.9% increase in the council tax for 2009, said it has been "a particularly difficult year due to lower government grants and the impact of the economic downturn".

"The current climate is also seriously affecting the council's ability to generate money from the sale of surplus land and buildings which in the past has allowed it to invest heavily in services," it said.