Council pledges to waste less money

Wiltshire Council is looking to cut £27million from its budget this year. Part of this will be achieved by the voluntary redundancy programme which will see 252 members of staff quitting the council.

This will save £4 million this year after redundancy costs.

Overall the total full time equivalent workforce (excluding schools) has been reduced by 5.7% with redundancy applications accepted across all service areas and at all levels.

Staff will be leaving the council over the next few months, with the majority departing by Christmas.

The Management Team claims the programme, combined with projected savings from other areas including a senior management restructure, will provide much of the required savings. They say there will be other initiatives to remove duplication and waste, plus new systems for purchasing goods and services.

After all this effort council leaders say they are "optimistic" that they can deliver the £27million savings for this financial year.