STAFF at County Hall are bracing themselves for the axe as a new report to councillors recommends redundancies as part of a three-year programme to deliver £14m of savings.

Dorset county chiefs refused to talk numbers ahead of tomorrow's crunch meeting, but their silence has left union leaders fearing the worst.

A report to cabinet members warns them to set aside £3m to cover staff pay-offs. But detailed plans for redundancies have been buried in confidential documents to be discussed by the cabinet.

Council leader, Cllr Angus Campbell, said he couldn't talk before the meeting.

"The fact that it's confidential means I'm not going to discuss it with you," he told the Daily Echo.

But the cabinet chairman was quick to defend an outlay of nearly £750, 000 on consultants for its three-year Fit for the Future programme. "If you're going to save £8m to £11m as a result, its good policy," he said.

The council's annual budget is about £400m, with nearly £180m raised from council tax.

Pam Jefferies, Unison's branch secretary at Dorset County Council, said a meeting in January to fix redundancy policies meant nothing. "The policies have been agreed, but not redundancies," she said. And Ms Jefferies said she was most concerned for County Hall's middle managers. "Its harder to redeploy specialist staff. We're pushing hard for retraining," she said.

Hired number crunchers have told county chiefs that a proposed investment of £16m in IT systems will yield savings of £14.3m in the medium term.

And further efficiency savings could reduce running costs by more than £8.5m a year in three years' time, officers claim.

The new computer system will put staffing levels in the hands of managers. Consultants hope the system will allow HR savings of more than £500 000 a year in three years' time.

Further computer-driven job cuts are planned for the adult social care department where officers believe that buying an off-the-shelf package will save duplication of effort among staff. The new, "streamlined" system is planned for July 2009. Savings of up to £1.5m are hoped for in the medium term.

The council's new call centre will be up and running by next month and has been included in the Fit for the Future programme. Officers hope to realise savings of £900 000 from its phone service.