There will not be a “mass exodus” of council staff as the county transfers to a new ‘super authority’, according to a district leader.

Leader of Chiltern District Council, Isobel Darby, says she does not believe there will be job losses across the majority of the authority, adding “If you are good at your job there will be a place for you at the new council”.

However Cllr Darby added current staff may not work in the same role at the unitary council – which will see the district and county councils in Bucks replaced with one ‘super authority’.

She said: “Most of our staff are frontline staff who are dealing with the public on a day-to-day basis. The likelihood is they will continue to be there.

“If you are an environmental health officer, there will be complaints that need to be investigated, routine inspections need to be done.

“They are still serving the same number in terms of population, in fact an increasing population.

“So in that respect I don’t see there will necessarily be job losses in the majority of the council.”

More senior roles are set to be axed – as cutting three of the four current chief executives at Bucks County Council and the four districts will save the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds a year.

Cllr Darby added: “I can understand that there will be losses further up the tree, you are talking about chief executives and directors.

“That kind of level. It is plainly obvious in the business cases there will be changes there.

“The people that we have got there now know they may not be doing the same job in a couple of years’ time, but also if you are good at your job I believe there is a place for you in this new council.

“It might not be the same job, but we have all got transferable skills.”

The leader went on to admit she does not believe the new council will be fully equipped by the April 2020 deadline – adding “I can see there are likely to be teething problems”.

She continued: “It’s really important that we all work together to support our residents.

“Whenever the council changes anything our residents have to find new ways of working with us. There are undoubtedly going to be new ways of working with this new unitary authority.”