The Environment Agency has begun a "process of change" in response to public expenditure cuts which is likely to lead to widespread reductions in staff numbers.
Unconfirmed rumours among Agency staff and contractors suggest the level of cuts could see it losing up to 4,000 of its 11,000 staff and that, more particularly, its evidence-based units face losing 100 of their 153 staff.
The possibility of cuts on that scale is being played down, however, and although the Agency has not ruled out compulsory redundancies, unions negotiating with it are optimistic these can be avoided.
No details have been released of the scale of cuts the Agency is facing but it did, however, confirm to BB that it is looking to make a reduction in posts in parts of the organisation.
It said, like all public sector bodies, it must continually strive to provide best value for money.
"The Environment Agency has an ambitious new corporate strategy," it said in a statement.
"To support it we need to make sure that the organisation has its budgets and resources in the right place at the right time to match our priorities and strengthen the way we work; increasing staff skills and capabilities and improving performance. This means the Agency is making some changes that will result in a reduction of posts in some parts of the organisation but better focus and expertise."
It says it is at the very beginning of the process but is committed to treating staff fairly in full consultation with them and their unions.
But discussions with unions are already underway. UNISON said although things are presently up in the air, it hopes the talks will enable the Agency to avoid compulsory redundancies.
But that could be bad news for those on temporary contracts or on contract from outside consultants.
"Our aim is ensuring no-one gets into the situation of compulsory redundancy," said a spokesperson for the union.
"We are talking about voluntary redundancies and the evidence-based units is an area with a lot of consultants' staff and that's being reorganised. A lot of effort is being made to redeploy staff."
But UNISON does not believe cuts on the scale being rumoured are in prospect.
"Those sort of cuts would have devastating impacts," it says.
