STAFF at Somerset County Council have been asked to take two days’ unpaid leave so the cash-strapped authority can save money.

The council is looking for new ways to generate savings after an official audit of its accounts warned it was in danger of “running out of money in two or three years” if no action was taken.

As part of the effort to tackle what an auditor called “pervasive” over-spending, the council has proposed that staff take two days of compulsory unpaid leave over the Christmas break in both 2018 and 2019.

The council believes that this proposal – which will go out to a trade union ballot in September – could save £1m over a two-year period.

The proposal was detailed in a monthly briefing note which was circulated to all council staff.

It outlines “a temporary change to terms and conditions for this year and the next.”

The briefing says: “The proposal is that staff take two days’ unpaid leave during the Christmas week (Thursday, December 27 and Friday, December 28), with a third day (Monday, December 24) taken as annual leave, flexitime or working from home.

“This would be a temporary change to terms and conditions for this year and next, saving an estimated £500,000 each year.

“The reduction in payments would be spread over the remaining months of the financial year and not taken out of just one month’s salary.

“The proposal is being discussed with trades unions at the moment and is likely to go to ballot in September.”

The council has said that essential personnel like gritter drivers, social workers and press officers would still work during the two-day unpaid leave period, but will not be exempt from the proposal – taking two days’ unpaid leave later.

It has also said that there were no plans for the proposal to become an annual fixture if it proved successful, or for it to be extended into other holiday periods, such as Easter or the school summer holidays.

Chief executive Patrick Flaherty told the council’s audit committee in July that the council had already achieved 80 per cent of the savings which it had identified in its 2018/19 budget.

In a message within the briefing note, he reiterated that the council was not in danger of going down the route of Northamptonshire County Council, which recently issued a second Section 114 notice, effectively freezing all unnecessary spending.

He said: “Northamptonshire’s failure was they did not understand their position, they didn’t put plans in place. They did too little, too late.

“We are not in the same place because we understand our position, are already taking action and the size of the challenge isn’t of the same scale.

“But to avoid that situation we absolutely need to act and to act immediately – this must be at the forefront of everyone’s mind.”

Mr Flaherty went on to say that delivering £130m in savings and efficiencies up to this point had been “a remarkable achievement”, while acknowledging that the council’s existing service offer would be difficult to sustain.

He added: “We are now at the point where we just cannot maintain all our services to this level. We have to look at everything we do and find savings.

“As we focus on the core, there will have to be a decline in other areas.”