NOTTS County Council has revealed it may need to axe an extra 1,500 posts over the next three years, in a bid to save £150m.

The council had initially predicted that 1,500 jobs could be axed between now and 2013.

But today officials said this figure could be closer to 3,000 due to increased budget pressures.

The 'council reshape' will see some services reduced or removed, although it is not yet known which ones will be affected.

Most of the 12,000 staff members at Notts County Council will be offered the chance to take voluntary redundancy. But compulsory redundancies are said to be 'unavoidable'

Social workers, social work assistants and locality support assistants within the Children and Young People department's reception and assessment teams will not be able to apply for voluntary redundancy.

It was previously announced that there were around 1,500 posts at risk as the council sought to save £80m.

However, a spokesman for the council said this amount has now increased, "due to the significant rise in demand for care for adults and children and the speed and scale of predicted Government reductions."

The council expects Government grants to reduce by between 25% and 40% over the next four years. This means the county council could lose between £40m and £60m.

Mick Burrows, chief executive of the County Council, said: "Unfortunately, it is inevitable that large scale reductions in staffing are required given that employee costs form a large part of our spending and the significant savings we need to make over the next few years.

"This is a difficult time for our workforce but we are aiming to reduce the number of compulsory redundancies by offering most employees the chance to express an interest in voluntary redundancy, freezing vacancies and stopping all non-essential spending."

The council has said it needs to find £69m next year.

About 20-30% of the savings is expected to come from making efficiencies within services but the council has admitted that most will come from "reducing, rationalising or removing services, including some public facing services."

The council has pledged to be more open and said it will publish details of all spend over £500 from September. It has also pledged to consult with the public over the issues and proposals.

The council is also freezing all non-essential expenditure.

The council has employed an 'Improvement Director' for £120,000 to lead the efficiency and savings drive.

A service review will be carries out, which will identify areas that face a reduction or closure.

The proposals have been criticised by Unison as a ‘foolish waste and a risk for the wider local economy’.

Labour leader Coun Alan Rhodes at Notts County Council described it as appalling and questioned why this was suddenly announced, when the council has known about Government cuts for some time.

He said: “They’ve clearly underestimated the scale of job losses and cuts and I would say that staff and council tax payers have been let down by an incompetent and desperate Conservative administration.”

Unison’s East Midlands head of local government, Andy Belfield, said: “This is not about money, how can it be? The council has £100 million in the bank; it is trying to sell off services that make a profit and waste £50 million on redundancies.

“This is really about a Tory council that doesn’t like public services and is trying to get rid of as many jobs and as many services as it can, regardless of the effect on people in Notts.”

The leader of Notts County Council has warned that some of the ‘nice to have’ services may be axed and that residents could be forced to help others continue in the future.

As part of a consultation exercise to save £69m next year, the council will ask people about the part that they would be prepared to play to help, including cutting their grass verge outside their homes or giving an elderly neighbour a lift for a hospital appointment.

Coun Kay Cutts, the leader of Notts County Council, said: "Our residents are at the heart of what we do as a council and I am keen to hear what services are important to them and their suggestions on how we make the necessary savings.

"The Council provides a vast array of services, many of which are heavily subsidised.  We hope that the residents will understand that in some cases services will change, or they could be asked to pay more towards their cost or may have to travel further to access them.

"We will protect services as much as we can but we will simply not be able to afford to run things as we do today. Unfortunately, some of the ‘nice to have’ services we may not be able to continue.”

From the start of September there will be feedback cards available in libraries across the county and a forum on the authority’s website where people can post their budget suggestions.

There will also be an online budget simulator where residents can try and handle their own county council budget and suggest where the reductions should be made.