Sadly some staff will be leaving us, so far as is possible through voluntary redundancy

Steve Martin, Chief Executive of ELWa

The quango has its headquarters in St Asaph, north east Wales but the 120 cuts will be made across Wales by voluntary redundancy.

Steve Martin, Chief Executive of ELWa said: "We have ambitious plans for the future which will become clear when we launch our long term corporate strategy and plan next month.

"We have to change to face that challenge."

He added: "Some roles will cease to exist but many new skills will be needed, for example staff who are able to bring about new learning opportunities working with communities, businesses, colleges and schools.

Achieve savings

The streamlined structure is part of an assembly strategy to re-shape post-16 education.

Mr Martin disclosed there would be between 100 -120 redundancies, which he said had been expected following the merger.

ELWa bosses say the merger will eventually lead to savings of around 15% - cutting running costs from �20.8m to �17.7m by 2003/2004.

However the latest restructuring will mean changes at every level in the organisation with some of the top management team adopting new roles.

Voluntary Redundancy

Mr Martin said: "Many people in the organisation will retrain for new roles and will be continuing to help us deliver our radical plans.

"Sadly some staff will be leaving us, so far as is possible through voluntary redundancy.

"We will be giving them every support to take their careers in a new direction."

PCS Union representative for Wales, Peter Harris said all the decisions had been agreed in a spirit of partnership with staff.

"A Works Council including staff and union representatives from across the organisation has been fully consulted on all the forthcoming changes.

"We will continue to work together with the National Council - ELWa throughout this process to ensure that people are given every support to explore opportunities for career development."