Hampshire County Council has approved 350 voluntary redundancies to address a significant budget shortfall
Hampshire: The council is facing a big budget shortfall of £182.2 million for 2025/26. To save money, they’re looking at different ways to cut costs.
Last November, the budget gap was £116.2 million. They managed to reduce it to £97.6 million with their first savings plan.
In November, the council also approved a scheme for staff to leave voluntarily. This was called the Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme (MARS).
They accepted 354 applications for MARS, and almost all were processed. This saved £4.5 million, which is less than if they had to make people leave against their will.
Most savings came from children’s services and adult health care. They saved £2.2 million from children’s services and £1.5 million from adult care.
Some councillors were concerned about how this would affect remaining staff and services. They worried about increased workloads and staff leaving.
Mr. Blogg assured them that they carefully considered each application. They only accepted those that wouldn’t harm critical roles.
Mr. Ashley mentioned that he approved 86 applications but received over 220. He emphasized that they wouldn’t let anyone go if their role was essential.
Overall, 86 staff members will leave, but he believes it won’t hurt their ability to safeguard children.
The MARS scheme is part of a larger savings plan that has saved £29.4 million so far. However, the budget still has a gap of £68.2 million.
The council is considering two options to balance the budget. One option includes a 15% council tax increase, needing government approval.
If that doesn’t happen, they might go with a 5% increase, which doesn’t need permission. They would then use £68.2 million from reserves to balance the budget.
The cabinet will discuss these options on February 4.
