County Council cuts 19 top posts
Senior management at Staffordshire County Council is going through a shake up which has seen the council shed 19 top tier posts over the last year making a saving of £900,000 to the tax payer.
Figures released this week have shown the public service organisation is spending less on top and second tier managers, while focusing resources on specialist professionals managing front line services.
County council chiefs have said in inflationary times the council has still managed to cut management costs while delivering more efficient value for money services for the Staffordshire tax payer.
The county council is on course to deliver savings of £34 million on its budgets this year alone, through new and innovative ways of working, from highways through to social care, trading standards and economic regeneration.
Since the administration changed two years ago the county council has been looking long and hard at how it delivers for the people of Staffordshire and has been refocusing how it goes about serving residents.
And at every step the council is committed to being open, honest and transparent in how it is getting there.
Salary details on the numbers of senior managers are published on the county council’s website.
Staffordshire County Council Deputy Leader Ian Parry said the figures spoke for themselves.
“We have been remodelling how the organisation is managed to ensure we get maximum value and maximum impact. Management structures are vital in delivering this.
“We are taking out hierarchies and ensuring that those who lead the new teams take on more responsibility and accountability. And it’s working.
“The council is on course to shave £34 million off its budgets this year, and another £17m next year. We have frozen council tax this year and last year the increase was just 1.9% in line with inflation,” he said.
The new approach is all about harnessing people power, helping staff to take on responsibility and directly involving customers and the community in shaping their public services.
From the creation of the community highways operation, involving communities directly in setting priorities for the road network, through to the personalisation of care provision through the massively ambitious Staffordshire Cares project, Staffordshire is leading the way nationally.
While other councils are cutting libraries and bus services, Staffordshire is working with local communities, responding to local priorities, innovating to meet real needs and reshaping services to respond to financial pressures.
The figures exclude teaching staff as each school employs their own staff directly and salaries are paid directly out of central Government funding.
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