Stoke-on-Trent City Council is considering cutting 248 jobs in order to help fund a £5.5m cash boost for children’s services.
The proposals – which follow an ‘inadequate’ rating from Ofsted earlier this year – would help the council to meet the ‘unprecedented’ demand for children’s social care services.
The council is consulting on a range of proposals to help re-direct the funding such as cutting 248 jobs, including 86 vacant posts. It is also considering controls on all non-essential spending, the transformation of services, identifying new revenue streams and reviewing contracts.
Council leader Abi Brown, said: ‘The recent Ofsted inspection highlighted the urgent need to make children’s services and protecting our vulnerable young people our number one priority. From day one of our administration, we have been clear that this will be our main focus.
‘As a cabinet, we are committed to ensuring that improvement and investment in children’s services go hand in hand, and these mid-year proposals will allow us to re-direct necessary funding so that we can make this happen.’
In March, Ofsted warned children in the city faced ‘serious and widespread’ delays in having their needs met and vulnerable children were not being safeguarded.
