More job cuts at Wolverhampton City Council are inevitable, chiefs said today.

Nearly 160 customer services and administration posts are being axed in April, with more to follow. Compulsory redundancies have not been ruled out.

The Labour-controlled authority is under government pressure to make savings of £14million.

A trouble-shooter is now being brought in to look at how taxpayers’ cash is being spent and make cuts to the council’s long-term budget.

The private sector firm is set to be named by the council this week.

It will put forward plans to cut costs as well as overhaul a 20-year-old IT system.

It is believed two different saving plans have been drawn up, both of which involve reducing a workforce which is just below 13,000.

Cabinet member Councillor Milkinder Jaspal said today: “There will have to be cuts but natural wastage of staff and voluntary redundancy will bring down the staffing levels.

“The transformation agenda will focus on revamping the IT systems, which are now very old, so you can do things quicker and reduce the need for different people working on one task.

“It will also look at what the city council spends, because in terms of things like stock, departments buy things every day, such as paper and pens, and it runs into millions of pounds.

“This is a key area in which we can make savings.”

The opposition Tory group say more cutbacks should be made to prevent another inflation-busting council tax rise next year.

From April, annual bills are going up by 4.75 per cent.

Councillor Andrew Wynne, Tory finance spokesman, said: “We can start these savings right now by putting a stop on new posts and deleting jobs that have been empty for six months, rather than wait until later.

“The budget situation gets worse year on year, and we’d try and find even more savings to avoid putting council tax up beyond inflation yet again.”