Wiltshire Council could make more than 300 people redundant as part of a move to save £4million in staffing costs in the next financial year.

A proposal has been put forward by the council’s corporate management which would see the council shed an estimated 340 full-time jobs by 2014.

It means almost every member of staff will be offered voluntary redundancy.

The plan will be debated at next Tuesday’s cabinet meeting in Chippenham, which will be the first meeting since the Conservatives retained control of the council at the recent election, and Conservative leader Jane Scott OBE was re-elected as leader of the council.

An informal consultation process has been proposed for the voluntary redundancies, which would apply across the council’s services. Staff will be invited to apply for redundancy from May 27, with a final deadline for applications on July 26.

Although open to all council staff, applications are not expected to be accepted from social workers, public health staff and critical front line service workers who have recently transferred to the council.

Leader of the Wiltshire Liberal Democrats Jon Hubbard condemned the news.

“I am absolutely shocked, we have just gone through an election process and not once did the Conservative administration admit they had a £4million hole in their budget”, he said.

“If you are going to take the first 340 people who volunteer how can you guarantee you won’t cut front-line services? You can’t know who you’re getting rid of.

“Clearly they know they were intending to do this long before the election; it has to have been planned before the election, as technically the council doesn’t have a leader at the moment.

“It has not been disclosed to the public, it has been squeezed on as the last item on a busy cabinet agenda. I feel deceived by the Conservative administration.”

Deputy leader of Wiltshire Council Councillor John Thomson, said: “It’s a voluntary redundancy programme, so it’s up to people to volunteer if they wish to.

“The fact is local government across the country is having its funding reduced, and we are determined not to cut front-line services, so we are asking people who may wish to retire, which will reduce our central costs.

“It is no surprise, it has been in the budget, but until we were re-elected we were not in a position to carry out our proposed budget.

“It’s very tough for everyone at the moment, and local government is taking the biggest cuts across all government departments.”

A Wiltshire Council spokeman said: “Our number one priority is to protect frontline services which support the most vulnerable in our communities and we will continue to work innovatively to ensure this happens.

“More people are depending on the services Wiltshire Council provides, and this, alongside a reduction in funding from central government means we need to continue to make savings.

“To do this we are looking at the longer-term picture and not just focusing on the year ahead, therefore, we need to make savings of £27million this year and £123million over the next four years. We will continue to develop modern services around the needs of the customer and not merely rely on traditional and outdated methods of providing services.

“To ensure this happens we need to have the right people in the right posts and the right staffing structure. As well as proposing to reduce the number of posts, we will also be making savings by working more efficiently, removing duplication and waste and improving how we purchase goods and services.”