THE leader of Wiltshire Council has denied that the loss of more than 300 jobs will impact on front-line services in the county.

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, in order to save £4m.

No compulsory job losses will be enforced, with all staff at the council to be offered the chance to take voluntary redundancy.

Applications from staff in front-line services, including social workers and public health staff will not be accepted, with the council’s Conservative leadership insisting the losses can be met elsewhere in the organisation.

Council leader Coun Jane Scott said: “We have more than 5,000 staff, and lots of back offices, and there are certain front offices that could be more efficient.

“But key players will not be allowed to take voluntary redundancy.”

The decision has been strongly criticised by Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Jon Hubbard, who has questioned the timing of the announcement, which comes just over a week after the council election.

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

“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 knew they were intending to do this long before the election.”

The job cuts come as the council looks to make £27m in savings, following reductions in its budget by 37 per cent over the last four years.

Deputy leader of the council Coun John Thomson said: “The fact is local government across the country is having its funding reduced.

“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.

“This 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.”

The proposal will be debated at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting in Chippenham.

Staff will be invited to apply for redundancy from May 27.