SENIOR staff at Ceredigion council will be asked if they’re interested in taking early retirement in a cost-cutting drive.

Staff over the age of 55 who are in senior management positions or on pay grade 15 or above will be offered the early retirement option.

However, deputy council leader Ray Quant said there was no guarantee that staff who may be interested would be able to retire under the scheme.

Cllr Quant insisted that, while the scheme could help save the council money, it was also being put forward as a method of “succession planning” in the council to try to ensure that much-needed expertise in the authority isn’t lost if a flood of experienced staff all look to leave the authority at the same time.

Under the scheme, the council will write to staff who qualify asking for expressions of interest. While the council has included staff on Soulbury pay grades - teachers - staff members employed by school governing bodies will not be eligible under the scheme as it only relates to direct employees of the authority.

Cllr Quant said the authority has previously put in place similar schemes as a way of cutting staffing costs without having to make compulsory redundancies.

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