MORE senior managers are to lose their jobs at Kirklees Council as spending cuts begin to bite.

The council has already reduced the number of assistant directors from 29 to 19 as part of a programme of cuts which will see 1,500 staff being made redundant.

But the council confirmed yesterday that a “significant” number of the remaining 19 would now lose their jobs as well.

The council’s human resources director Cliff Stewart said: “The number of assistant director posts will be cut from 19, although the number is yet to be finalised. Discussions are continuing, but the change will be significant.”

Mr Stewart said the council had to act when it became clear that public spending cuts would be even worse than expected.

He said: “This is in reaction to last month’s Budget announcements and the changing economic picture in local government as the council now has to make greater savings over a shorter period of time.

“Originally we were looking to reduce the budget by 20% over five years, but this has risen to 25% over four years.

“Put another way, our target is to cut an overall £83m from the budget by 2014 and this is at a time when our Government grant is falling.

“The most responsible way forward was to re-examine our senior management structure and use this as the first way of looking for further savings.”

The council is in the middle of its so-called Innovation and Efficiencies Programme, which will see the non-school workforce reduce from 11,200 to 9,700.

As part of the process, the council announced in February that the number of directors would fall from seven to four and the number of assistant directors from 29 to 19.