A MASSIVE shake-up at Surrey County Council sees 784 of its employees facing redundancy. Consultation is under way over proposals to restructure the council's operations in a move which will save £139 million over five years.

However, council tax payers will not feel any benefits of the cost-cutting this year with the county's share of the bill still set to increase by five per cent.

The council's executive has given the go ahead to start formal consultation on the biggest ever review of how the council delivers services to the residents of Surrey.

Pressure to increase efficiency, and underfunding from the government, has forced the council to carry out a huge business-delivery review, which looked at all its services, with the exception of schools.

Three options were presented to the executive, the first being no job reductions but finding other savings while investing in front-line social care.

The second option was to keep the existing structure and cutting 1,010 jobs, keeping the work force down to a minumim with the same extra investment.

However, the third option was supported by the executive, for a radical "redesign" of the council's structures. This will see council's services organised into four headings.

Policy and performance will incorporate departments such as marketing and major projects; services for communities will include fire and rescue, libraries and transportation; services for families will include services for children, adults, schools and mental health; and corporate services will include finance, estate management and legal services.

The restructure will bring 784 redundancies, although 123 new posts will be created, resulting in a net reduction in staff of 661.

The number of buildings used by the council will also reduce and the council's handling of enquiries will improve through the creation of a single contact telephone number.

Members of the executive felt that although option two would save the most cash, it would provide no opportunity to improve the way in which it works with little felexibility and poor staff morale.

"The new organisational design offers the council the chance to articulate a new vision for the council, share this with staff and partners and the public, enhance community leadership and citizen engagement, introduce new, more customer and user-friendly processes, replace old practices and procedures, improve partnership and contract working, and develop new skills and competencies to be successful in a 'one council' ethos," the executive's report said.

The county council has started a formal statutory consultation with unions and staff representatives. There will also be extensive engagement with staff, residents, members and partner organisations before recommendations are put to the full council later in April when the final decision will be made.

The leader of the county council, Nick Skellett, sought to reassure staff who fear their jobs may be at risk.

"I understand that this is an unsettling time for many people," he said.

"To help minimise this uncertainty, we will start formal consultation with staff representatives as soon as possible. In addition, we will do all we can to take into account the views of staff, residents, members and partners over the coming weeks.

The leader pointed to the scale of the savings in the longer term but warned that a five per cent hike in the council's share of the council tax bill was on the cards this year.

"This was the only sensible long-term option we as a council, could justifiably take if we were to make the necessary savings required," he said.

"The need for the council to make substantial savings cannot be overemphasised given the current funding plight and against a backdrop of a likely council tax rise of around five per cent.

"This ensures the SCC remains at the cutting edge of service provision and is able to provide significant long-term investment into areas such as adult-care package volumes through a radical redesign of our operational structure and we way we conduct business."