Council warns it may face industrial action as hundreds of jobs set to go

Hull Council, which faces some of the highest Government cuts in the country, says although most job losses will be voluntary, some compulsory redundancies “may however be inevitable”.

The cash-strapped authority, which shed 1,000 jobs in 2011, has set aside £15m to pay for the redundancies which includes 240 jobs in its business support section, announced last year. It is trying to save around £5m by renegotiating terms and conditions with trade unions.

In a report head of human resources Jacqui Blesic said: “The trade unions are opposed to cuts and are organising events to demonstrate their opposition. There is a risk of some form of industrial action arising from the reductions in staffing and proposed changes to terms and conditions.”

Despite cuts to jobs and services, council tax bills will rise 1.95 per cent for the next three years - just below the Government’s two per cent referendum threshold.

Finance portfolio holder Coun Phil Webster said redundancies would be through targeted voluntary early termination, adding: “We are trying to avoid compulsory redundancies. We will negotiate absolutely anything – the one thing that is not negotiable is the level of savings we have to make.”

But Lib Dem deputy group leader Coun Mike Ross said: “I am genuinely shocked that the Labour councillors who stood on a platform of protecting jobs and front-line services are about to viciously cut both.”

Hull North MP Diana Johnson said the council would lose £228.36 in Whitehall funding for every person in the city by 2015, which she branded “grossly unfair treatment of the most deprived areas”.