Senior management restructure produces further savings

The Council has now more than halved its number of senior managers since 2009, reducing this from 28 to 13. This latest phase will see the structure reduce by a further three posts.

The new structure was developed by Richard Partington who was recently appointed as the Council's first managing director. It will help to better deliver Telford & Wrekin's drive to become a Co-operative Council, which listens to and involves its residents and partners much more closely in its decisions and services.

It aims to make the Council more business-friendly, will also support the council becoming more customer-friendly and work more effectively in partnership across the borough preparing the way for the integration of public health service with the Council in 2013.

Following the restructure, two senior managers, Corporate Director Meredith Evans and Head of Service Peter Smith are taking voluntary redundancy and will be leaving by April. The post of Assistant Chief Executive has also been scrapped along with a further Head of Service position.

Council leader Kuldip Sahota said: "I am glad that we have been able to quickly move forward with a structure that is key to helping us operate as a co-operative council, headed by a managing director.

"At a time when we have to find £40 million in savings to meet unprecedented cuts in government grant, the Council's senior management restructuring, begun in 2009, will now be saving more than £2.1m a year in costs.

"This is a very significant amount and it is only right that the Council's senior management lead the way on staff savings which we have to find a total of almost £17 million by 2014.

"When we asked the community to help develop our budget, they said we should reduce senior managers and senior managers pay. We have done this.

"We continue to need to identify and making further savings for the foreseeable future. The challenges we face are huge and more difficult choices and decisions lie ahead of us. However, we are focused on making the Council, our Co-operative Council, one that the community can be proud of."