MORE than 60 council workers have been made redundant since their jobs were controversially transferred to a private company, it has emerged.

Worcestershire County Council has revealed that 65 jobs have been slashed by Babcock since it took over the authority's back-office school support function last year.

Back in October the firm signed a five-year deal to take on 391 staff under a money-saving deal.

Within weeks it then started a shock consultation over axing up to 103 roles, sparking fury among workers and unions, who claimed they'd been given little or no advance warning.

Bosses at County Hall now say "the equivalent of 65.8 full-time equivalent" positions were made redundant, meaning the number of people affected could be considerably higher.

The cut has been confirmed by Councillor John Campion, the former Conservative cabinet member for schools and families.

"Clearly, employment and staffing are matters for Babcock but I can confirm that there were the equivalent of 65.8 full-time equivalent redundancies," he said.

He also said the firm has "not dismissed anyone after the transfer" for any reasons other than redundancy.

The figures, which were released during a full council meeting, come as the authority insists it is keeping a tight watch over Babcock's performance with the school support function.

Some council officials overseeing the process were invited to a meeting of the children and families overview and scrutiny panel earlier this week to be grilled on it.

During the debate Lib Dem Councillor Fran Oborski said she was worried the loss of too many experienced staff could "hold back" school improvements.

John Edwards, the council commissioner responsible for it, said: "While I accept there's been a reduction in staff since it went under Babcock, there were also changes going on before.

"It (a reduction in staff) has been going on for a number of years, in the last four years there has been a substantial reduction.

"But we have to be careful not to equate reductions in numbers with the service."

The funding being given to the company from the council, £3.8 million for the first year, is being reduced 44 per cent to just £2.1 million by 2017.

The school support roles include all kinds of help like admissions, post-16 education, teacher training, educational psychology, property advice and help for looked-after and special needs pupils.

The deal was done on the understanding that Babcock would reduce council staff numbers, given its huge scale, and continue to provide a service to schools by relying on other in-house workers to plug some of the gap.