Only council to furlough staff

Canterbury City Council is the only local authority in Kent to furlough staff during the Covid19 pandemic.

It has temporarily laid off 49 employees as part of plans to save about £40,000 from its cashstrapped budget, which includes a £12 million black hole from the pandemic.

Council leader Cllr Robert Thomas described the move as “sensible” and hopes to reinstate the furloughed workers later this year.

He said: “The finances won’t change the world in one sense because our problem is much bigger than £40,000.

“But we need to use the authority’s resources to the best of our ability.” Canterbury council’s main opposition leader, Cllr Alan Baldock (Lab), described the decision as “regrettable” but said he broadly supports the “short-term” move, adding: “We expect staff to be re-employed as quickly as possible.” However, Kent’s remaining councils have restrained from furloughing staff, with the county’s 13 other authorities declaring no intention to take such action.

Canterbury has 450 staff members and 49 of these were furloughed from March 19 to April 30.

A city council spokesman said: “We are ensuring no individual member of staff that has been furloughed will lose out financially and we are keeping our position under constant review.”

About £1.7m of cash has been sent from Boris Johnson’s Government to Canterbury so far to deal with the Covid-19 pressures, but the authority says it is not enough to close the gap. A new Covid-19 emergency committee will meet in two days’ time to debate and decide on a revised budget.

It has been described as the first of its kind in the council’s 46-year history.