Animal services could have been reorganised

The Welsh headquarters of the RSPCA has been saved.

The charity's governing council decided not to proceed with a threatened reorganisation, even though savings of more than �8m still have to be made.

Staff based at the headquarters in Brecon walked out on Tuesday in protest over proposals to close the office, with a loss of 25 jobs.

Those employed at the base include a team of telephone controllers receiving calls round the clock, a press officer, education officer, public affairs officer, manager and a team of audio typists.

The organisation hit financial problems following heavy losses on its stock market investments last year.

It had been estimated that, in order to achieve a balanced budget for 2004, a net saving of �8.1m would have to be made.

One option was to reorganise the regional management, slimming the structure down from 10 regions to seven.

This would have involved merging the operation in Wales with western England, and operating both from a joint headquarters in Shrewsbury.

Staff deal with calls 24hours a day at Brecon

Last October, the charity decided to freeze staff pay and all capital projects for 12 months.

The charity's general council met on Tuesday and Wednesday and decided against reorganising the regional management on the basis of seven regions.

It decided that the risks of disruption to regional and branch activities and animal welfare services outweighed the efficiency savings that could be made.

For the time being the current management structure will remain.

Plans for an animal hospital in Merthyr Tydfil remain on hold because of the financial situation.

The council will now have to decide on a cost-cutting package at its next meeting on 11 June.