The rising cost of adult and child care forced Wiltshire Council leader Jane Scott into a proposal to axe chief executive Andrew Kerr.

The cash-strapped council already had a budget to save £70 million by the end of next year, but Cllr Scott said the escalating cost of social care has forced it into another £500,000 of savings and some tough decisions.

Six weeks ago the extra saving was discussed at a meeting at which Mr Kerr was present.

He was aware that senior councillors felt no more could be cut from frontline services and that management posts were the likeliest areas for more savings.

On Wednesday Cllr Scott called Mr Kerr to a meeting and told him his job was at risk of redundancy, along with that of one of the council’s four corporate directors.

“It has been a really, really tough week for us,” said Cllr Scott.

“The decision to make this proposal has not been taken easily or lightly. I have taken it because I believe what we are doing is the best thing for the people of Wiltshire.

“We do not want to do anything to take away from those who are delivering services, the frontline of the council. I believe we have to protect that.”

The four corporate directors at risk are Sue Redmond, community and adult care, Caroline Godfrey, childrens’ services, Mark Boden, neighbourhood and planning and Carlton Brand, business and transformation.

The four senior posts oversee a team of 22 service directors who might have been at risk also, but senior Tory councillors chose to opt for high salaries to make maximum savings through losing the fewest number of people.

Cllr Scott said the council had come under increasing financial pressure in recent months.

“We had set a budget to save what we needed to save, £100 million over four years, but it is a very difficult economic situation and the picture keeps changing,” she said.

“We are under pressure because of the increasing cost of adult care and also the number of looked after children we have responsibility for, this is what has pushed us into this difficult decision.”

Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Jon Hubbard said the council was guilty of either negligence or incompetence in making a ‘rushed’ decision to cut senior staff.

“While I applaud the decision to make cuts to senior management costs, this seems to be a knee-jerk reaction to short-term financial problems,” he said.

“The first I heard of this was Wednesday lunchtime when Jane Scott held a phone conference with group leaders, I am still trying to get my head around it. It seems very sudden.

“Either the council has been planning this restructuring for a long time, in which case why didn’t they sign a temporary contract for the post and save taxpayers the redundancy costs, or it is a knee-jerk reaction by a council that’s floundering.”

He added that the council was obliged by statute to provide a head of paid service, usually a chief executive, to hold legal responsibility for the council’s actions.

“The Conservative administration seem to want to run some sort of Soviet-style troika where all are equal, but there are legal problems with that,” he said. “If one of the corporate directors has this responsibility but doesn’t have the power of veto over the others it can’t work.

“If they do have that power, they are a chief executive. Why not have a chief executive but without the £190,000 salary.”

The outcome of the redundancy consultation, when Mr Kerr and one of the four service directors learn of their fate, will be decided at a cabinet meeting on September 26.