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Bolton Council has had to let 100s of jobs go and slice £41 million from its budget, all decided in one furiously-debated nightly session. Members of the council were involved in heated exchanges before they passed the authority’s budget for 2011/12.

Blackburn with Darwen Council announced that it must shed 1,000 jobs as part of a proposed budget savings package of more than £25 million.

A firm which makes well-known confectionery and biscuit products and is based in Merseyside is restructuring its operation. Burton’s Foods, which produces brands including Wagon Wheel, said it deeply regretted job losses that have occurred as a result of a business review. It revealed that its factory in Moreton, Merseyside, would close with the loss of 342 positions. The firm has six plants across the UK.

Unemployment in the North West increased by 2,000 in the three months to October, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The surprise increase to a total of 279,000 (8.1%) mirrors the overall pattern, especially in the north, and was driven by public sector job losses. Dr John Philpott, chief economic adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, found the news especially disappointing.

More than fifty jobs are at risk following the announcement that Wesham Hospital Rehabilitation Unit in Lancashire is to close as part of a savings plan. Over the ensuing month services and patients at Wesham Hospital are to be transferred to Clifton Hospital, Lytham.

Six thousand jobs are under threat at Lancashire County Council due to cuts, says a leading union.

A leading union said its members at Merseyrail, excluding guards and drivers, would be urged to support industrial action following two pay offers being rejected. Merseyrail was unavailable for comment, while the strike ballot will end on November 30. Merseyrail carries more than 100,000 passengers on average during weekdays on the Wirral and Northern Lines in Merseyside.

As well as seeking to trim the public sector, the Tory/Lib administration is also taking a substantial axe to the Regional Development Agencies. These were created in 1999 in the eight English regions – including the north west – to drive business growth and economic development.

Time and Attendance North West can help employers who are affected by the changes in the law to the national minimum wage, which the Government have confirmed is being increased to £5.93 an hour in October. National minimum wage pay is calculated in a certain way. Many of the payments that you make to a worker will count towards their national minimum wage pay, but some won’t.

An astonishing statistic is that Liverpool social workers took a total of 78 years off sick in just a nine month period. A Freedom of Information request submitted to Liverpool council revealed that sickness among staff in social services amounted to 28,727 days off between January and September 2009.

One employer which takes first prize rewarding 100 per cent attendance is Merseyside Fire and Rescue, whose scheme has halved the sickness absence rate. Four years ago the service introduced an ‘absentee incentive scheme’. Occupational health manager Paul Blanchard-Flett pointed out that in 2003-2004, each employee was taking an average of 11.36 days off per year. By 2008-2009, this figure had plummeted to 5.5.

Time and Attendance North West offers a reliable business solution for monitoring your employees’ clocking data. Accurately log and record information detailing fixed hours, shifts, flexi-time, overtime, holidays and sickness, job costing, and fire roll call. We offer a range of the highest quality biometric and smartcard readers, ensuring the identity of an employee. Thin enough to fit in a wallet, the smartcard is easily read giving controlled and efficient access around your business.