Pest control service set to be axed in council cuts

COUNCIL chiefs are set to scrap York's pest control service and slash the number of highways staff, it was claimed last night.

Independent councillor Mark Warters spoke out at a City of York Council cabinet meeting, saying details of the proposed cutbacks had been presented to employees and passed to him by an 'appalled' member of staff.

He said the cutbacks, understood to be part of a package of efficiency and savings proposals drawn up in the wake of local government funding reductions, involved a 40 per cent cut in jobs amongst the ordinary workforce in the highways department.

He branded the job losses a 'hatchet job' and claimed staff morale was low but said the proposals for the pest control service were 'totally unacceptable,' raising major public health concerns. He said it should not be left to management to decide without further scrutiny and debate by all elected members.

He also claimed the council had decided not to employ the pest control team, comprising two front line officers, at its own West Offices headquarters, which would have kept council money in-house and retained jobs.

He said: "From what I know, the financial case for cutting this service has been overstated. Figures I have seen show that this service is certainly covering the staff costs after only seven months of the current financial year."

Sarah Tanburn, the council's interim director of environmental services, responded to Cllr Warters at the cabinet meeting, saying the proposals were part of moves the council had to make to meet budget cuts of nearly 1 million.

She said: "We are in beginnings of consultation with staff around a number of changes to the services.

"This is part of the very necessary steps to we need to make to meet the projected overspend in that department.

"We have to look at options to make these savings. We have started consultations and will go through the proper processes, which will take some time, and we are very much at an early stage."

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Pest control service set to be axed in council cuts