A special phone line has been started for staff at Bradford Council to ask questions and make comments about controversial proposals to axe 408 jobs.

The Council, which is planning to trim management and administration posts, says the phone line is "over and above" the intensive face-to-face meetings and other consultation methods taking place over the next three months.

A formal consultation process is under way with staff and unions to discuss the proposals, which would reduce the Council's budget by £13.6m this year.

It is hoped compulsory redundancies can be avoided through a vacancy freeze, redeployment and a review of temporary contracts.

The Council says the move is designed to improve efficiency, ensure maximum value for money for residents and avoid a budget overspend.

The Have Your Say feedback line started yesterday and will complement other meetings and consultation.

Becky Hellard, strategic director for corporate services, said: "We have more than 21,000 staff who work hard for the district, and for many of them this is an uncertain time.

"However, this is a very real consultation process and we want to make sure our staff feel able to ask questions and give comments. We will take this all onboard before a final decision is made."

The Council has written to staff to let them know about the phone line, which can be reached on an internal extension. When they call, they will be connected to an answering machine which will be checked regularly each day.

Although the line is not intended to deal with personal queries, messages which are left will be used to provide regular bulletins for staff.

Public service union Unison, which represents 8,000 Council staff, is to ballot members to see if they are prepared to strike over the losses.

Unison believes the cuts are a result of the spiralling cost of the Council's Bradford-i computer programme and contracts with IBM and Serco Solutions.

The union, which alleges the value of the contract has soared from £110m two years ago to over £200m, plans to ask the Audit Commission to formally investigate the contract.

A 90-day consultation period with unions and staff began earlier this month. The Council has stressed no decision will be made until the end of the period, and it aims to avoid compulsory redundancies where possible through the vacancy freeze and re-deployment.