Claims that up to 400 jobs at Richmond Council could go as part of a merger of services with Wandsworth Council have been rubbished.

The two councils announced last month they would share a staffing arrangement from March 2017 in a move to save about £10m-a-year for each borough.

January 23: Wandsworth and Richmond councils to merge, leaving Kingston in the lurch

Under the plans, Paul Martin, Wandsworth Council's current chief executive, would head up both councils, with Mark Maidment from Richmond Council as the deputy chief executive and director of resources.

Richmond's chief executive Gillian Norton and Wandsworth's deputy chief executive and director of finance, Chris Buss, will both retire.

The GMB union, which represents council workers, said it understood Richmond's chief executive, Gillian Norton, told staff at a meeting on Monday, January 26, that 25 per cent of the current 1,600 jobs would go by 2017 as part of the £10m yearly savings.

Frank Minal, GMB organiser, said: "GMB members at Richmond Council are stunned and dismayed by the news that a quarter of all Richmond council jobs may be gone by 2017.

"Staff working for Wandsworth Council are desperately hoping that they will not face the same loss of jobs but have been left in the dark over their future as Wandsworth Council has made no statement despite the recently announced, forthcoming merger of the two councils."

But a Richmond Council spokeswoman said the saving would not be made purely from cutting staff and the union was incorrect to suggest 400 jobs were at risk.

Staff meetings were held on February 2 and 4, the council said, and not on January 26 like the union suggested.

The spokeswoman said the council needed to cut its budget by 20 per cent - £30m - across four years and the union interpreted the figure as a total of 400 job losses. 

The spokeswoman added: "No jobs are potentially at risk at the moment - only Gillian Norton's job is definitely going. The next stage is senior management under Ms Norton and a programme is being put together about the rest."

Councillor Tony Arbour, cabinet member for performance, said every part of the public sector had to make savings and Richmond Council could not be immune.

The council has already made savings of £30m in the past four years and must do the same between now and 2018.

Coun Arbour added: "The public expect us to protect key services if we can. That is why it is our duty to accept sometimes painful reductions.

"The £30m we need to save is about 20 per cent of our budget. However, this saving is not just about staffing.

"Together with Wandsworth we will review how our services are delivered across the two boroughs. Savings could be found for example through shared procurement exercises or commissioning.

"We are very early in this process and more work is needed before we can be clear as to the number of posts that will be impacted. The one thing we do know is that we will have one chief executive with Wandsworth and one senior management team. "

The GMB said it would consult all members at both councils on job cuts.