Barking and Dagenham councillors axe 300 posts in �48m saving programme

BARKING and Dagenham councillors approved nearly �50million of cuts last night.

Three hundred council posts will also be shed, including 160 redundancies and 140 job “deletions”, under the three-year programme of savings.

Barking and Dagenham residents will feel the full force of the cutbacks this year, with �28million of savings in 2011/12 followed by �10million in both 2012/13 and 2013/14.

Major savings will be achieved by shaving �1.6million off the adult care commissioning budget, �1.1million from youth provision and reducing apprenticeships by �500,000.

Another �1.5million will be cut by revamping passenger transport, which could force disabled pupils to go to pick-up points to get their school bus.