Council staff told they're losing their jobs just two weeks before Christmas

More than 100 members of staff at Cornwall Council are set to lose their jobs in the new year as the authority looks to save tens of millions of pounds on next year's budget

Council staff have been told they face losing their jobs, with notices of redundancies handed out only two weeks before Christmas.

The job losses at Cornwall Council have been announced in a bid to save £48.6 million as part of the draft revenue budget for 2025/26. It is understood more than 100 roles are set to go, with the proposal approved by the local authority's Conservative Cabinet on November 13.

A consultation letter seen by CornwallLive sent to staff read: “These savings are necessary as, across the sector, the main issues are a rise in demand (numbers of people accessing services), ever increasing costs of services (due to inflationary pressures), with the additional resources available (through extra council tax, business rates and fees and charges) not being enough to meet these pressures.

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"This inevitably means the council has to reduce costs to be able to balance the budget and live within its means. Services were tasked to identify ways of achieving a balanced budget and the proposals submitted were a mixture of service reduction and efficiencies, contract and commission management, workforce proposals, increasing income and managing demand.”

Staff will undergo a 45-day formal consultation with five days extra for the Christmas break. Employees will be eligible for redeployment status if they have completed more than two years’ continuous service with Cornwall Council. The redundancy consultation will be completed by April 1, 2025

A council spokesman said: “Cornwall Council, like local authorities across the country, faces financial challenges, and is having to make choices that are lawful, deliverable but in no way desirable to produce a balanced budget for 2025/26. Every effort has been made to minimise the impact on employees but sadly, this difficult process does mean a small percentage of jobs may be at risk within the organisation.

"Where possible we are restricting external recruitment, and will look at redeploying staff in suitable roles before anyone has to leave the organisation through redundancy. Those staff in affected roles are being supported through the process and we are engaging with the trade unions.”