Around 1200 posts are to be cut at  one of the country's largest local authorities to shore up a £67 million budget shortfall over the next three years.

 

Edinburgh City Council is the latest Scottish local authority to outline measures to make swingeing cuts to reach budget targets.

The council is to make more services directly available on the council website, with face to face transactions said to cost up to £30 a time while online transactions cost three pence.

All existing routes of contact will stay open but it is envisaged many residents will opt for online contact with the council.

Empty council properties are also to be sold and how the council funds the third sector will be reviewed.

The council said the move will make it more "lean and agile" but will mean the non-compulsory loss of roles that could also include agency jobs out of about 16,000 full time posts.

The council said there will be no compulsory redundancies and it will look to redeploy staff across different services areas as the changes are implemented.

Costs of digitalisation have not yet been revealed but substantial investment is expected.

It comes after the council was hit with a costly housing repairs scandal which is yet to be fully resolved.

Council finance convener said the plans were challenging but essential.

He said: "The council needs to take significant steps to tackle the financial challenges it faces as demand for our services continues to increase.

"At the same time, we want to make the services for residents more efficient and effective.

"We believe these priority areas for change will enable us to achieve service improvements as well as cost savings."

The proposals are to go to the finance and resources committee for debate next week.