A GOVERNMENT department has been the first to warn staff of possible job cuts – within hours of Chief Minister Allan Bell announcing that the public sector wage bill will have to be slashed by 10 per cent.
Chief executive at the Department of Community, Culture and Leisure, Nick Black, has written to all staff informing them that ‘significant’ savings will have to be made this year and for the next three financial years – and that changes are being planned to the way the department is managed, structured and staffed.
He warned them: ‘Posts will be changed to fit the new structure where possible. Some posts will be lost.’
Mr Black said he hoped to protect frontline services ‘as far as is possible’ but efficiencies would have to be found ‘wherever possible’. He insisted there would be full consultation with staff and their representatives before final decisions were made regarding posts that may be lost or significantly changed.
The Council of Ministers finalised the 2012/13 budgets for each government department on January 16. In a public statement released on Monday, Chief Minister Allan Bell said that to rebalance public finances – set to be cut by a third or £175 million in the wake of the VAT shock – the annual salary bill of government will have to be reduced by 10 per cent over the next three to four years.
Mr Black told the Manx Independent that details of the number of job losses would be confirmed in the next week or so once proposals for the new departmental structure were finalised.
‘We are looking at staff across the pay and grade ranges and potentially across the range of operations of the department,’ he said, adding that he was hopeful that those affected could be redeployed in other roles within government.
The Department of Community Culture and Leisure is facing a squeeze not just from its revenue budget but from its income too as a result of the economic downturn in the island, the UK and further afield which is having an impact on visitor numbers.
Mr Black said: ‘The department is consulting with staff and their unions about possible changes to its structure and staffing.
‘We expect to be facing reductions in its funding in future years. We are also facing the difficult trading conditions that affect any business with an income that relies heavily on discretionary spending. We are progressing a number of options to reduce costs and to increase income.
‘As 77 per cent of our revenue budget is allocated to staffing we cannot afford to ignore the potential for savings in staff costs.
‘Over the coming days we will be providing more information about what changes are being considered and how their posts could be affected. Once we have completed the proper consultation and finalised our plans we will inform staff about what changes will happen and what options are available to them.’
The department currently has a full-time equivalent head count of 416.
Last year, five staff on the heritage railways were made redundant as part of a restructuring of the department that resulted in 22 posts being lost.
In his message to staff, Mr Black said he has made a strong case for services such as the buses, the NSC and Villa-Gaiety complex to continue to be operated within public ownership – but with private sector efficiency. ‘I do not believe that the private sector is by definition better than us but we must do all that we can do to prove that we can deliver great services with great value,’ he said.