Edinburgh City Council to axe ‘hundreds’ of jobs

THE city council’s workforce is set to be downsized by hundreds in a bid to make the organisation leaner and better equipped to respond to local needs.

The council is looking to downsize the workforce. Picture: Martin Smith

City bosses have outlined how they plan to shake up management teams overseeing key services such as schools, transport and elderly care.

They want to bring in a “fundamental change” in the way the council operates so that decision-making power is increasingly devolved to frontline staff dealing with residents.

And they have admitted the move could result in the disappearance of scores of middle management positions.

Crucial detail on precisely what the revamp will mean for individual workers and departments should be released early in the new year, they added.

Council leader Andrew Burns said: “Indicatively, we’re talking hundreds of roles here. But this is against the backdrop of a no compulsory redundancy policy. We have quite a significant churn in the organisation – it’s something like six to eight per cent on a usual year.”

“Frontline service delivery will, if anything, be numerically enhanced.”