SEVERAL jobs could be lost at Monmouthshire County Council's (MCC) Community Learning Service.

In March this year the Welsh Government announced a reduction in funding for adult learning resulting in a cut of £204,000 for the county.

The Community Learning Service relies on Coleg Gwent franchise funding, fee-paying leisure classes and grant income to keep it running. Due to the cut, funding from Coleg Gwent has been reduced.

The restructure seeks to reduce management and administrative support for the service and reduce management costs.

The service delivers education and leisure classes for adult learners and has five bases across the county.

Community learning currently has 12.11 full time employments which could be reduced to 3.33, and 1.77 term time only posts. These figures appear as decimals because they refer to postings that could be worked by more than one person, rather than staff members.

The cuts are based on the notion that centres in Monmouth and Caldicot will not be staffed and will be run as satellite centres instead. Learners would be encouraged to book courses online or by telephone and face-to-face enquires would be dealt with at the community hubs.

Councillor Phil Hobson said: "We've been faced with a very difficult decision. One option was to close the service, this is not something we'll do or want to do in Monmouthshire. We have to look for alternatives such as remodelling the service and keeping education for those who most need it.

"This has been difficult because it will result in redundancies."

Leader Councillor Peter Fox said: "It's with a very heavy heart we receive this report. It's disappointing that money's being taken away from these areas. This has not been brought forward lightly."

A report written by Andrea Charles, manager of community learning, and Debra Hill-Howells, head of community delivery, states: "Consultation will continue to ensure that we explore all opportunities to maintain a highly valued service, within budget restrictions."

The plans were approved by cabinet last Wednesday (15th July) but they are taking recommendations on other ways the service could be run without redundancies