THE union representing staff at Ryedale District Council have said the way it delivers services to the community “will change” in the wake of its cost-cutting ‘transformation programme’.

The programme, which began last year after several years of other cost-cutting measures, is called “Towards 2020” and is designed to save over £1 million over the next three years.

Janet Waggott, chief executive of the authority, said: “The council is undergoing significant transformation.

“This redesign has led to a reduction in the number of full time equivalent posts. 22 posts have been made redundant across the council.

“I am very pleased to say that compulsory redundancies have been avoided and the restructure is progressing well.”

The council brought in consultancy firm iESE to carry out the restructure, the cost of which is forecast to be £400,000 this year.

There is also £1.2 million budgeted for the cost of the voluntary redundancies.

A spokesperson for Ryedale Unison, the union representing staff at the authority, said that the voluntary redundancy posts are spread amongst various sections of the council.

They said: “The restructure is council-wide, and as the chief executive has said, we are in a period of transition, and whilst there is no plans to cut services to the community of Ryedale, how we provide services will change.

“It is also important to bear in mind that whilst there are 22 voluntary redundancy posts identified, a number of staff have left the council for other employment since May 2016, as a result of the uncertainty around job availability.

“Those staff have not been replaced, and are absent from the new operating model.

“Unison would estimate that approximately 40 posts have been removed from the structure.”

At a meeting of the policy and resource committee on Thursday, council leader Linda Cowling praised the restructure: “We set what I thought was an impossible task for this council. But we are in a position where we continue to deliver services and have made these savings, without any compulsory redundancies.”

Cllr Luke Ives agreed, saying: “Services are not being cut in this budget yet we are making £1.1 million efficiency savings.”

However, Cllr John Clark of the Liberal group warned: “I think it would be more tactful to wait and see what has been done to this council.”

Speaking afterwards, he added: “The new structure doesn’t start until April. We can’t really measure levels of service until it’s been going a year.”