PLANS to change the terms and conditions of employment of more than 30,000 Lancashire County Council staff have been dropped.

The authority's leader Cllr Geoff Driver announced a review of them in November when he backed down on proposals to cut 95p an hour off the wages of 5,800 of its lowest-paid workers.

His Tory administration had proposed scrapping paying them the £8.45 an hour Foundation Living Wage in favour of the £7.50 national minimum wage to save £1million a year.

Instead a review of employment conditions including unpaid leave and sick pay was started to save £5million by 2020.

On Thursday the county council's ruling Cabinet will hear that talks with the trade unions have found a voluntary formula to make the savings.

The senior councillors are recommended to approve proposals to reduce spending on agency workers (£11.6million in 2017/18) by £690,000 annually; action to cut the level of sickness absence (11.83 days per employee in 2017/18) by two days a year; and measures encourage the voluntary take up of unpaid leave.

County council Unison branch secretary Elaine Cotterell said: "This is the result of sensible negotiation.

"However I fear the prospect of changes in staff terms and conditions will return in the future"

The proposals also include the introduction of a two per cent vacancy level across all staffing budgets to save cash and a warning that if voluntary measures fail to make the savings, compulsory changes to staff terms and conditions could be implemented.