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More than 1,000 jobs are to be axed at cash-strapped Birmingham City Council amid "the most prolonged period of budget cuts in its history."

A total of 1,095 posts will go over the next 12 months, though as yet we have no details about where the axe will fall.

Since 2010 the council workforce has HALVED, with more than 12,000 jobs lost - the next round of redundancies will take this to well over 13,000.

In the city's Financial Plan 2019-2023, which is due to be debated by councillors this week, the council reveals it "continues to need to reduce the size of its workforce as a result of implementing some of the proposed savings needed to balance its budget...the council anticipates a further reduction of up to 1,579 full time equivalent staff by 2022-23, with up to 1,095 full time equivalents anticipated to exit the organisation in 2019-20."

In his foreword to the Financial Plan, council leader Coun Ian Ward said: "It is clear that after almost a decade of austerity driven cuts, this continues to be the most challenging period in Birmingham City Council's history.

(Image: Birmingham Mail)

"Funding for vital services to support the people of Birmingham has been cut by more than £690 million since 2010.

"And we must now find further savings of £85 million over the next four years, including £46 million for 2019/20, taking the total annual savings over this 12-year period to £775 million.

"Over the same period, demand for many services (especially adult social care) has grown and inevitably that has meant tougher budget decisions than ever before."

He adds: "Those cuts continue to hit the people of Birmingham hard and I want to pay tribute to council staff, who continue to provide a vital safety net for the most vulnerable people across this city, despite losing almost 12,000 colleagues since 2010.

"The ongoing commitment and dedication from staff in such challenging times will be vital."

Only last week the council announced the high paid post of Angela Probert, the chief operating officer for strategic services, had been 'deleted' as part of cuts.

She worked for the authority for around three years and had once briefly stepped up to chief executive following the departure of Mark Rogers in 2017 and preceding the arrival of Stella Manzie.

She oversaw human resources, policy, procurement, information communication technology, communications and customer services.

The cost of paying for redundancies continues to place a huge burden on the council. In the coming year it expects to fund around £12m of redundancy payouts using capital receipts - the money it makes from selling off council assets - topped up by dipping into cash reserves.

*Have you been affected by redundancy from Birmingham City Council? Please get in touch, we'd love to talk to you in confidence. Email jane.haynes@reachplc.com