PLANS to reduce Wirral Council’s senior management are expected to be approved when the ruling cabinet meets tonight - and it has emerged councillors will also have to deal with a previously hidden bad debt bombshell.

The Government has told the town hall it must cut spending by £109m over the next three years - £40m being the target for next year alone.

A major management restructure is one of a package of measures designed to make savings while causing little or no damage to frontline services.

Among the changes to be agreed are the scrapping of senior posts in the departments of adult social services, children’s services, law, HR, housing and planning.

But an updated report by chief executive Graham Burgess to cabinet exposes how the council’s grim financial position has been exacerbated by problems of its own making.

It shows examination of the accounts has revealed the authority is carrying at least £5m of previously unnoticed bad debt going back many years which, due to the time elapsed, will now be impossible to pursue.

And aside from facing massive cuts needed to balance the books in future years, a list of reasons explaining why the budget for this financial year is heading for an overspend of £8.7m has been produced.

The litany includes rapid cuts in Government grants not being matched by commensurate reductions in the revenue budget.

Income targets that had not been achieved were increased each year to present a false but balanced budget which incorporated around £4m of annual income that cannot be collected.

Department budgets have been manipulated often without the prior agreement of chief officers in order to present apparent savings.

Much more controversial cuts will be made in the New Year when among the options being considered will be plans to make at least 500 staff redundant, turning off street lights, shutting youth centres and ending maintenance of the borough’s parks and beaches.

These matters will be dealt with at a cabinet meeting scheduled for February.

Tonight’s meeting starts at 5.30pm.