A DECISION to change the way in which four Monmouthshire tourism sites are run has been called in by several councillors.

Last week Monmouthshire County Council’s cabinet agreed to spend £462,744 to overhaul its attractions staffing structure, a move the council admitted could lead to redundancies.

Staff at Caldicot Castle, Chepstow Tourist Information Centre, Monmouth’s Shire Hall and Tintern Old Station will be affected by the changes.

But four Labour councillors have requested that the plans be called in for further scrutiny by the economy and development select committee.

Caldicot councillors Jim Higginson, Tony Easson, Alan Davies and David Evans say redundancy payments could cost the authority more than £10,000 – the threshold at which call-in scrutiny can be requested.

The letter also claims that neither redundancies, nor reorganisation, had been discussed alongside the council’s plans to transfer management of tourism, leisure, culture and youth services in Monmouthshire to an outside body.

A council report revealed last week the proposed alternative deliver model (ADM) which would see a charitable trust, MonLife, provide the services in the future.

The call-in request says: “The ADM has been discussed ad infinitum at many meetings, at none of which to my recollection, were reorganisations and redundancies mentioned as a precursor to the signing of legal agreements. Especially at this late stage in the process.

“By taking this route of reorganisation, it leaves the door open for other reorganisations prior to the time of transfer to the ADM, which would put further pressures on this authority’s redundancy reserves.”

The reorganisation comes after it was revealed that the cost of running the four sites led to overspends in each of the last five years.

New jobs have been proposed at each of the new sites to provide a “more cost effective and efficient” service delivery – abut at the expense of other roles.

And the council are currently unable to give an “accurate estimation” of redundancy costs, where severance of employment applies.

The call-in letter continues: “Finally there are no savings to be made in the proposal.

“We see the creation of several posts which will not to our mind provide the level of positive progress and efficiency that is considered they will make. We agree that is subjective, but further scrutiny will discover that.

“Therefore, we believe that members of the economy and development committee, must be given the opportunity to recall the cabinet member to fully explain the thinking in the decision to support the report before cabinet last Wednesday.”

If members of the committee share the same concerns as the councillors when they meet on July 19, they may refer the matter back to cabinet, or full council.