MORE than 770 posts have been culled at County Hall in just 12 months, shock new figures have revealed.
Teachers, youth workers, home carers, social workers and day care staff are among the jobs to be cut as bosses slashed more than £5.5 million from their wage bill.
The authority paid out more than £2.1 million in redundancy payments.
Data obtained by The Bucks Herald under the Freedom of Information Act reveals that 771 posts were deleted at Bucks County Council between October 2010 and October 2011, the most recent figures available.
Of these, 350 posts were full time. A trade union boss says the authority is currently ‘running on goodwill’, and warned that morale among staff is on the slide.
But the leader at Bucks County Council said bosses had no choice but to cut the jobs in the light of brutal government savings targets.
Penny Gray, Unison branch secretary, said: “For a person to get made redundant is a tragedy.
“With teams shrinking, staff are being made to take on more duties. It’s only through people’s goodwill that things are being run without services being reduced.
“But there will come a point where you can’t cut any further.”
Heaviest hit was the children and young people department, which has seen 382 posts vanish in the space of a year.
Among the posts to go were a headteacher, two teachers, four teaching assistants, five specialist teachers and an assistant headteacher – but County Hall says school redundancies are decisions made by individual boards of governors.
Also bearing the brunt was the adults and family wellbeing department, which shed 225 posts.
The council paid out £2,176,742 in redundancy payments.
Councillor Martin Tett, who took over the leadership at Bucks County Council in May, hit back at fears that front line services were being unduly affected.
He told the Herald: “Protecting front line services doesn’t mean that everything will continue to be done in exactly the same way with exactly the same number of people employed by the county.
“Take a couple of examples from the list. We are looking to move many libraries to community libraries run by local communities.
“The same facility is available but run with fewer county staff. The same applies to youth services.
“With regard to home carers, the county made a decision under the previous administration to outsource its home care services. As a result the service is now provided in most of the county by non county staff.”
The council is in the second year of a three-year programme to cut £56 million from its annual budget.
Mr Tett continued: “Local government cannot be immune from this national problem, inherited from the previous Labour government who overspent every year since 2002.”
AMONG THE POSTS TO GO IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS ARE:
l Care Purchasing Manager
l 15 Youth Workers
l 44 Driver/Attendants
l 3 Transportation Officers
l 75 Home Carers
l 7 Library Assistants
l Library Manager
l 68 Part Time Youth Workers
l 5 Adult and Family Wellbeing Administrators
l 2 Museum Operations Supervisors
l 9 Day Opportunities Workers
l 5 Senior Day Opportunities Managers
l 3 Supported Employment Officers
l Acting Headteacher
l Afro-Carib Achievement Consultant
l Assistant Headteacher
l 7 Admin Assistants, Children and Young People
l Keeper of Natural History
l Headteacher
l 6 Learning Support Assistants
l 7 Business Support Officers, Children and Young People department
l 7 Extended Services Co-ordinator, Children and Young People department
l Drug and Alcohol Worker
l 19 Leaders in Charge, Children and Young People department
l Outreach worker
l 6 Finance Officers
l Domestic Violence Support and Prevention Worker
l Early Years Adviser
l English and Drama Advisor
l Music Teacher
l 6 Part Time Support Workers, Children and Young People department
l 3 Trainee Educational Psychologists
l 2 Teachers
l 4 Teaching Assistants
l Teaching Assistant and Outreach Worker
l 5 Specialist Teachers
l 3 Social Workers, Children and Young People department
l 4 Trainee Social Workers
l 3 Social Workers, Children and Young People department
l 4 Unqualified Teachers
l Youth Crime Prevention Co-ordinator
l Youth Services Manager
l 3 Primary School Improvement Advisers
l Primary Maths Consultant
l Support Youth Worker
l 2 Transport Supervisors
l 2 Senior Human Resources Officers
l 5 Placement Adminstrators, Children and Young People’s department
l 3 ICT Support Assistants
l ICT Schools manger
l 5 Training and Support officers
l Welfare Benefits Advisor
l 3 Technical Analysts
l 2 Care Purchasing Coordinators
l Home Care Manager
l 8 Senior Practitioners, Children and Young People’s department
l 4 Clerical Assistants, Adults and Family Wellbeing department
l 3 Community Facilitators, Adults and Family Wellbeing department
l Exhibitions Manager
l Facilities Assistant
l Environmental Record Centre Manager
l Day Care Assistant
l 2 Income Generation Assistants
l Keeper of Archaeology
l Management Information Quality Officer
l 2 Rehab Support Workers
l School Learning Assistant
l Project Leader (Social Work)
l 4 Transitions Workers, Adults and Family Wellbeing
l 2 SNR Archives and Local Studies Assistants
l Student Support Manager
l 3 Saturday Assistants, Adults and Family Wellbeing department
l 3 Aim Higher Project Workers
l Anti-bullying project officer
l 2 Bursars, Children and Young People department
l 4 Business Support Administrators, Children and Young People department
l 9 Tutors, Adults and Family Wellbeing department
l Participation Worker – Disability
l Panel Manager, Children and Young People department
l 28 Part Time Support Workers, Children and Young People department
l 6 Senior Business Support Officers
l 3 Residential Workers, Children and Young People department
l Secondary English Consultant
l Portage Worker
l Area Co-ordinator, Communities and Build Environment department
l Biodiversity Project Officer
l Area Rights of Way Officer
l Country Parks/Green Spaces Project Manager
l Natural Environment Team Leader
l Communications Group Manager
l Senior Trading Standards Officer