Lean times at the town hall

Employees know any award could harm the council’s strategy of no compulsory redundancies, but may look to negotiate better terms and conditions, such as annual leave, instead.

In a report to last night’s Licensing and General Purposes Committee, Malcolm Johnston, Rother’s director of resources, said: “We remain committed to no compulsory redundancies .. with all the destructive impact on morale this would create.”

However, consideration of voluntary redundancies has been accelerated, with some 30 staff expressing a firm interest. Current estimates put overall redundancy payments at around £750,000.

“This figure is likely to be recovered in under a year and we will then be producing the long-term savings we need,” said Mr Johnston, though he warned services would inevitably reduce in line with any voluntary redundancies.

Rother had not frozen recruitment, but was reviewing every vacancy and seeking to redeploy staff where necessary to cover gaps in key services - re-setting - or to organise joint efficiencies with neighbouring Wealden.

Staff Side, for Rother’s employees, said: “All staff have been through a lot recently, with many taking on extra project work over and above their day jobs.

“So far everybody has been able to work in the spirit of co-operation to see the council through these challenging times.

“We would not want to see this eroded.”