NORTH Herts District Council (NHDC) has cut staff numbers and is to restructure its management after it passed proposals at a meeting last week.

A total of �823,000 needs to be saved from the authority’s staffing budget, �563,000 of which is to come from general staffing and lower level structural changes and �260,000 from senior staffing arrangements.

Those savings were agreed by NHDC’s Cabinet in February and were approved at a full council meeting on Thursday evening.

The changes include the axing of two head of service posts, producing a total saving of �150,000.

Two senior management roles and several other council jobs have also gone. There are currently 331 full-time equivalent posts occupied at the council.

Some services have been amended too, with several departments reporting to different people as a result of the cuts to the senior positions.

Chief executive of NHDC John Campbell said: “The changes set out in the report will be implemented as soon as possible in order to reduce the council’s expenditure in line with the budget requirements.

“Staff affected will be subject to the council’s reorganisation policy in relation to their individual circumstances.”

Some of the savings will be achieved by not filling already vacant posts. Those who will directly be affected have already been informed by the council.

The changes are part of wider measures across the board to fill a 16.2 per cent deficit in government funding.

Some �150,000 has been put aside by the council to cover any redundancy costs that arise from the cuts.