COUNCIL workers in Oxford have been offered a £500 ‘sweetener’ for making millions of pounds of cuts.

The Labour-run authority wants to slash its budget by £10m over the next four years through a mixture of charge hikes and spending cuts.

As part of the austerity package, it has highlighted a potential £6m of “efficiency savings”.

The council’s 1,000-plus workforce have been told they could net a bonus of £250 if they meet annual savings targets, and up to £500 if they exceed them.

Council staff pay has been frozen next year except for those earning less than £21,000, who will get a £250 raise. Other workers will be offered the “partnership bonus”.

Union leaders and senior staff are now negotiating the details of the scheme.

Oxford Unison branch secretary Caroline Glendinning said she wanted a staff pay rise instead of the incentive payments.

But she said low-paid workers needed any financial boost they could get.

She said: “As a union we have to get the best deal for our members. We have an awful lot of low paid members.

“They have not had a pay rise, and with inflation as it is, we have to get them something from somewhere.”

Council savings identified include £962,000 from the parks budget, by reviewing maintenance work and deleting vacant job posts.

They also include £179,000 by improving the way the council buys goods and services.

But the council’s draft budget also sets out £1.9m in service cuts, such as reducing the number of street wardens, and plans to rake in an extra £2.3m in increased fees such as car parking and garden waste collections.

The council’s deputy leader Ed Turner said the authority could not offer pay rises as it was battling to balance its books in light of reduced funding by central government.

He said: “The idea is staff will be rewarded for the extra effort they have put in.

“It is a modest payment and it is a lump sum, so the lowest paid benefit most.”

Mr Turner said senior managers had indicated they would not take the bonus.

He said council staff were motivated and added: “I wouldn’t want people to get the idea that staff would not work hard without this payment.”

Mr Turner said offering a guaranteed pay rise could mean the council ran into financial trouble in future but added: “If we make up enough ground through efficiencies then we can make these awards.”