City council outlines further cuts and job losses

Derby City Council is to cut more than 100 jobs by April next year as part of efforts to save just over £10m amid continued challenges to its finances.

Whilst most of the jobs are already vacant posts, about 38 will be compulsory redundancies.

It is estimated the move will save the authority £4m.

Council leader Nadine Peatfield called the job losses "difficult and upsetting" but necessary to balance the authority's books.

Derby's budget gap has increased by £9m since February this year, taking it to £22m.

The council is also proposing to increase council tax by the maximum legal amount of 4.99%, 2% of which will be ringfenced for social care.

There will be a £9m contribution back into reserves over the next few years to bring them back to the recommended level, which is not currently being met.

Pressures on adult and children's care and homelessness were highlighted as behind the bulk of the spiralling costs.

It is expected rising costs on emergency accommodation will push the authority £1m into the red.

The Labour-led council has also rowed back on two manifesto commitments around introducing a booking system at the Raynesway waste centre, and the introduction of some free bulky waste collections, which will now operate on a voucher system.

The city's library services will also face cuts to resources but a planned 10% reduction to funds for the city's struggling museums has been scrapped.

Leaders also anticipate the government's policy on increasing National Insurance contributions for employers will add more than £2m to their costs.

Council leader Nadine Peatfield told the BBC it was an "awful time" for staff facing job losses in the run-up to Christmas but said the majority of the workforce would be protected.

"This budget is not the one any of us ever imagined we would have to set but it's a responsible budget and a realistic one, and sets us in a firmer place for the future," she said.

"We have protected and prioritised front-line services... people will see an improvement."

A total of £31m will be invested into essential services, with the majority going into adult social care.

The authority will also receive some funding from the government's £600m recovery grant, due to its low council tax collection base and levels of deprivation in the city.

It is expected a review of home-to-school transport contracts and further work to identify where artificial intelligence can be deployed in adult care will inform further cuts in the near future.

The leader of Derby Conservatives, Steve Hassall, said the Labour administration had "over-promised and fantastically under-delivered".

"With over 100 job losses, council tax going up by its maximum and U-turns on two key manifesto pledges... this is a disaster budget for Labour," he said.

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