WIRRAL council is aiming to embark on a modernisation drive in a bid to keep spending in check.

A special Workforce Plan is being devised with the ultimate objective of putting "the right person with the right skills in the right job at the right time."

Bob Williams, the council's director of personnel and policy, said: "The planning process will start with an analysis of our current workforce. We will then need to identify what new or improved services we foresee and then ensure that out employees have the knowledge, skills and competence to meet the new demands." Cllr Stuart Kelly, council cabinet member for central services, said: "We are on the cusp of a new agreement on a new IT system. This alters fundamentally the way a lot of services are delivered for the better. But we do not want to be spending money on the new system only to find staff do not know how to use it."

The initiative is part of a massive reorganisation the council has been undergoing.

Jobs have been cut and departments merged as the council sets out to reduced spending by £5m over the next two years.

Four years ago the local authority was hauled across the coals for setting the UK's third highest council tax. But in a swift reversal earlier this year Wirral recorded the lowest council tax increase in England.

The council currently employs around 10,000 people.