UP TO 800 jobs could be slashed at Hampshire County Council as it prepares for funding cuts to help pay off the country’s budget deficit.

Council leader Councillor Ken Thornber told The Gazette the authority is likely to shed in the region of one to two per cent of its 40,000 staff, although more precise figures would only be possible once the scale of Government grant reductions becomes clear.

But he said he aimed to protect those workers delivering services.

“I won’t be reducing any children’s social workers or adult social workers,” he said. “I won’t be reducing those gangs that are improving our roads, helping our safety.”

He said he would prefer to lose staff by leaving vacancies unfilled rather than making redundancies.

But library workers are already facing the pain as the council looks to chop the department’s 550 full-time equivalent workforce by 12 per cent to save money.

The service has run £1.3million over its £18m budget because of factors such as income loss and computer improvements.

The Government gives Hampshire County Council a £146m general grant and £99m in specific grants.

Hampshire originally prepared for grant reductions of about two per cent, but Cllr Thornber said the council is now expecting cuts of about seven per cent.

He said the council aimed to save £19m in 2010-11, but has also identified a further £15m of savings from pay, productivity, procurement and other efficiencies over the next two years.

Some council fees could rise, and he said the authority is looking at how much it contributes to employee pensions.

Cllr Thornber is also hoping national talks could result in an employee pay freeze this year and possibly next year too.

Rising bills put another pressure on Hampshire’s finances.

Hampshire’s highways were hard hit last winter and Cllr Thornber said extra capital spending of £117m on the roads is planned over the next seven years.

Although Hampshire’s ageing population is increasing elderly care bills, the council leader said the new national Coalition Government looks likely to save the authority £10m to £20m by dropping Labour’s free personalised care initiative.

Cllr Thornber added: “What we will have to cut into is the frills. I mean the nice-to-do rather than the need-to-do. We would look at support staff and overheads very carefully. Nothing can be ruled in and nothing can be ruled out.”