PLANS to get council staff to take unpaid leave over Christmas have been abandoned after trade unions rejected the proposals.

Somerset County Council laid out plans in August for all staff to take two days’ unpaid leave this Christmas and next Christmas, in a bid to raise nearly £1M by 2020.

The plans were approved as part of a wider programme of cuts in September, pending negotiations with the trade unions who represent staff, including Unite and Unison.

But the money will now have to be found from other sources after unions rejected a revised proposal, put forward in October.

The revised proposal required all staff earning £75,898 or above to take three days’ unpaid leave, with two days’ leave for those earning between £23,867 and £75,897 and one day for those earning between £21,074 and £23,866 – with all staff on lower pay than this being exempt.

Councillor Tessa Munt asked about the union ballot at a meeting of the council’s cabinet in Taunton on Monday morning (November 19).

Chris Squire, the council’s director of human resources and organisational development, confirmed that the trade unions had rejected the proposals.

He said: “The proposals will not be taken further. We won’t be pushing forward any other proposals for unpaid leave or voluntary leave.”

The proposals for unpaid leave were split between the council’s various departments – which means alternative sources for the same savings will have to be found in each area.

Under the original proposals, the unpaid leave proposals would have generated the following amounts each year:

  • £78,000 from staff in adult services
  • £200,000 from children’s services
  • £99,800 from corporate and support services (including human resources)
  • £85,000 from economic and community infrastructure (including libraries)
  • £5,500 from a further contribution within democratic services

Peter Lewis, the council’s interim director of finance, said that the decision would not have any impact on the authority’s overall revenue budget, in light of new savings being identified.

The council has not confirmed when details of these new proposals will be coming forward for public scrutiny.