All council employees invited to express interest in voluntary redundancy or voluntary early retirement

A “workforce wide” invitation has been sent out for any council staff to express an interest in voluntary redundancy or voluntary early retirement from the local authority.

Last week in a behind closed doors ‘Part 2’ section of the Executive Board meeting a ‘Change Programme’ report was considered and approved “to deal with the in-year budget gap of £1.77m” and the “workforce wide invitations to a scheme of Voluntary Redundancy/Voluntary Early Retirement be commenced”.

The Executive Board also approved the “further development of the early ideas for 2025/26” as part of the ongoing and ‘anticipated’ budget ‘challenge’.

Following the meeting emails began to land in employee inboxes asking for staff to express an interest in voluntary redundancy or voluntary
early retirement. Employees were also asked, “It’s important to note that anyone whoapplies will need to set out a case for, how their service can continue to function without their role”.

The above process has been internal to the around 5,500 workforce and elected members. With many staff in touch we asked Wrexham Council about the move, why it is taking place, and what the impact will be on service provision. We also asked around the scope of the programme, and how much the council is set to shrink by.

Wrexham Council said, “As part of looking at the savings which are required over the next two years we have developed a Change Programme to review how we work as a council and whether there are more efficient ways of delivering our services to the public and our stakeholders.

“As part of this early stage of the process we are seeking ideas and suggestions from our employees and Elected Members. The invite to our workforce about voluntary early retirement or voluntary redundancy is part of a longer process in relation to the Change Programme.

“At this stage our main focus is delivering our statutory services and ensuring stability with our performance whilst we undertake this large and complex piece of work.

“As part of our regular press briefings we will share more with you as it is appropriate. We will provide information to the public as we move through this Change Programme to seek ideas, suggestions and consultations at the appropriate time.