More councils look set to shed jobs, due to the downturn and the need to balance budgets. The Isle of Wight Council (IoW) has announced it is likely to shed up to 205 posts to help counter the effects of the credit crunch and an £8m shortfall. The authority also wants to ensure this year's council tax rise is kept as low as possible. Leicester City Council is to cut 60 jobs in an efficiency drive, and Mendip DC has identified 19 jobs ‘at risk'. Specifically, IoW identified government under-funding of the national concessionary bus fare scheme as a critical issue leaving the council with a £3.7m. Chief executive, Steve Beynon, said: ‘The council, in line with many other authorities around the country, has been hit by rising costs, a decline in income, and at a time when the public sector is charged with reducing its costs through ever challenging efficiency savings. ‘The net result is that this year we need to meet a budget shortfall of £8m. We have explored in great detail how that saving might be achieved and it has, unfortunately, become clear that we are not able to do this without affecting staff.'
