Council workers have been warned to reduce their postage costs – after cash-strapped Aberdeen blew its annual budget by thousands of pounds in just seven months.
An email from the interim director of infrastructure Bernadette Marjoram has been circulated to staff showing that the authority has already spent £92,759 when only £86,406 had been set aside.
But this pales in comparison to last year where the council spent a massive £344,111 on postage, when only £163,731 had been budgeted.
In total nearly £187,000 more has been spent on posting correspondence than has been set aside – enough to hire scores of staff.
The authority is looking to slash around £125million from its budget in the next five years and have began an ambitious “transformation programme”.
Part of the drive is delivering more services online which the authority has argued will be necessary in the face of increasing grant cuts from central government.
But unions fear that thousands of jobs could be chopped from the 8,500 strong council workforce and that services will be reduced to the “bare basics”.
Ms Marjoram urges workers in her email to use electronic communication and second-class stamps where possible.
Opposition SNP group leader Stephen Flynn said: “At a time we’re being told that there could have to be job losses as part of £125million of cuts, it beggars belief that the administration don’t appear capable of managing a postal budget.
“Perhaps, rather than telling staff to use second class post we should deliver a P45 to this second class administration.”
An Aberdeen City Council spokeswoman said: “As Aberdeen City Council moves toward a more digital organisation, employees have again been asked to use our mail systems more effectively, thereby reducing the strain on the budget which has been reduced in line with our digital strategy.
“A similar communication was shared with staff towards the end of the last calendar year and the spend for the current financial year to date shows a significant reduction compared to the same point in the previous financial year, suggesting that the message is resonating with our employees.”
