Doncaster Council cuts 700 more jobs

The job losses come on top of hundreds announced earlier.

Chief executive Rob Vincent said: “There is still a need to look at further reductions of up to 700 posts in this financial year.”

Unison, the largest union at the council with 5,000 members, said earleir that job losses would hit services for “the most vulnerable people”.

It claimed 700 jobs had been lost since Christmas, with more to be cut over the coming year.

Mr Vincent said: “We will explore every option to manage these reductions and we will only consider compulsory redundancy as a last resort.”

Unison spokesman Jim Board said: “You can imagine that, at the moment, our relationship with Doncaster Council is heading for the basement in a fast elevator.

“We’ve tried to work in good faith with Doncaster Council, we’ve tried to find a way forward, clearly at the moment this is a massive setback.

“We’re in the middle of a ballot for industrial action and this will prompt many of our members who have not voted to reconsider their position and to vote.

“We’re hoping to get a positive result in that ballot. If that is successful we will be aiming to take industrial action.”

Doncaster Council has already confirmed that it has to save £71m by 2015, and said “employees know we are in a difficult position”.

The council is Labour-controlled, but is headed by an elected mayor, Peter Davies, an English Democrat.