Council to merge planning and regen offices
Birmingham City Council has announced plans to shed another 79 jobs as it merges its planning and regeneration departments. Combining the two teams will see the number of employees reduced by a third, the council confirmed.
The 272 staff affected will have to re-apply for the remaining 193 positions.
Waheed Nazir, director of regeneration, said: “By merging these services together, I believe we can deliver a more focused, efficient and multi-skilled service, removing duplication and delivering better value for money.
“The future model will see a number of area-based, multi-disciplinary teams, set up to support priorities of the council such as the Big City Plan and provide a single point of contact and support to developers, stakeholders and the public alike on all regeneration and planning matters.”
Nazir said the council hoped the remaining planning and regeneration staff will be “more versatile, multi-skilled and develop a more flexible approach, which will benefit both them and the services they are delivering”.
Posts being removed will be distributed across the department, the council said. The axed jobs will include roles linked to funding streams which will come to an end, such as the Working Neighbourhoods Fund and New Deal for Communities, as well as back office roles currently duplicated across the portfolio.
Nazir added that talks with trades unions and staff on the proposals are continuing.
