ELEVEN primary school staff are at risk of compulsory redundancy.

Moulsecoomb Primary in Lewes Road, Brighton, is proposing a staffing restructure which would lead to up to 11 support workers losing their jobs.

It comes less than a month after ten jobs at West Hove Infant School were saved after tense negotiations with unions.

It would be the first time there has been compulsory redundancies of council employees under this Labour administration, which has so far managed cuts with voluntary redundancies.

The GMB union is concerned that any job losses in one of the most deprived areas of the city could have a significant impact on the community.

GMB branch secretary Mark Turner said: “My concern is that these proposals could become very serious.

“I am therefore calling for an urgent meeting with the LEA and school to discuss how we can attempt to prevent these compulsory redundancies, along with the devastating effect these cuts will have on the care and education of children in the school from an area which is particularly vulnerable, also attempting to resolve any industrial dispute with us as a trade union.

“A further concern is that this could be the tip of the iceberg within this geographical area as we could shortly also face another school not far from this one facing the same devastating cuts and effect where we as a union are very much involved and therefore the impact this could have on the wider community could be even more devastating so in our opinion there needs to be some joined-up collaborative work here.”

He said the council needed to reassess what if any budget deficits its schools were able to run.

He said: “Schools are getting into a desperate situation. Options are now running out for schools.”

A council spokesman said: “Moulsecoomb Primary is currently consulting with staff on proposals designed to address their budget situation.

“The council is supporting the school in this process and will continue to support the school to mitigate impact on staff as far as possible.

“Through this process we and the school are continuing to engage with staff and trade unions as is our usual practice.

“At this stage no decisions have been taken about the future of the staff at the school who may be at risk as a result of these proposals.”

The school was rated “requires improvement” at its latest Ofsted inspection, carried out in March last year, although the effectiveness of its leadership and management was rated good.