ELECTRICITY bosses have confirmed more than 50 agency and contractor posts, and a number of permanent positions, are under threat across the North West after future operational costs were slashed by their official watchdog.

But management at Electricity North West have insisted that their new East Lancashire training academy will be safe as they look to carve £50million out of their budget.

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Fifty-one agency and contractor workers could leave the business before the end of March, it is proposed, alongside an unspecified further number of posts, as part of an ongoing redundancy consultation.

The final totals will only be known when a number of factors, including the number of voluntary redundancy applications, are eventually known.

Today a second collective consultation meeting is expected with affected staff, before individual meetings are held in seven days’ time.

It is understood that the losses will be drawn from a pool of around 500 middle managers and supervisors, out of a regional workforce of 1,700.

And it comes after the electricity network provider was told by regulator Ofgen that its annual budget over the next eight years would be dropping from £410million to £360million.

Just two years ago the company announced that it would be establishing a new training academy at Whitebirk Drive, near Blackburn, and insiders have confirmed that the facility is not under threat.

An Electricity North West spokesman said: “We operate the power network throughout the region and is funded through electricity bills paid by people in the north west.

“From April we are reducing our part of customers’ bills by £23 a year – the biggest reduction of any electricity network in the country.

“We will also be investing £1.8billion in the network over the next eight years but receiving £50m a year less.

“We are at the very early stages of consulting with employees on how we can deliver these savings while continuing to deliver a great service.”

Several teams, including the one for East Lancashire, will be streamlined with the largest anticipated losses to come from the shared services unit.

The company’s headquarters is located in Birchwood, near Warrington, but the outfit also has an office in Preston.