MORE than one hundred jobs could be axed in the North-East under cost-cutting plans for the official body in charge of promoting learning and skills in England.

Union officials last night said the job cuts - among 1,300 nationwide - will lead to the closure of Learning and Skills Council offices across the country.

The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) said the plans will ''devastate'' post-16 learning and skills at a time when the Government claims it is a priority.

Friday's announcement that around one third of the council's staff will lose their jobs by next June follows the axing of 800 posts at the organisation in the past 18 months.

The union said the cuts will ''wreak havoc'' with the delivery of vocational courses, apprenticeships and adult education and will throw the Government's aim of improving workers' skills into ''disarray''.

Staff have not been told where the cuts will be made, but the four North-East offices - in Durham, Middlesbrough, Gateshead, and Cramlington, in Northumberland - are expected to be hit.

Four-hundred people are employed at the sites in the region, and if a third of those positions are axed, up to 130 workers could be lost.

North-East regional organiser Liz Blackshaw said: "Everyone is going to be affected, not just those who lose their jobs.

"Whenever you have these job cuts, there is always an increase in workloads and an increase in pressures for the remaining staff.

"The news has come as a complete shock. No-one was expecting this at all, especially at a time when the Government is saying learning and skills are at the top of their agenda.

"The council was restructured 18 months ago and 800 jobs were lost, and since then the remaining workforce has struggled with high stress levels and high absence levels because of the stress.

"WE can't understand how the Government can say a further third of the workforce can be lost and expect the provision not to be affected, bearing in mind this is their number one priority."

Union General Secretary Mark Serwotka said: ''These cuts will bring devastation to the delivery of vocational courses, apprenticeships and adult learning, seriously undermining the Government's skills agenda.

''Following hot on the heels of 800 job losses in the past 18 months these proposals will seriously damage the council's ability to administer and distribute its £9 billion budget in a transparent and accountable way.''

Mr Serwotka said the announcement undermined an invitation given earlier this week by Chancellor Gordon Brown for unions and employers to hold talks on how to boost workers' skills.

''It also further exposes the crude cost-cutting in key services by the Government.''

The union warned of possible industrial action to fight the job cuts and pledged to mount a ''vigorous campaign'' of opposition.

Shocked staff were being given the grim news at a series of meetings across the country yesterday morning.

The council confirmed that its planned reorganisation would see staffing levels reduced from 4,700 to 3.400, adding that savings of £40m will be achieved.

The council was set up in 2001 with a single goal of improving the skills of young people and adults in England.

Miss Blackshaw said the possible closure of offices in the North-East would affect the quality of courses offered by colleges - and could lead to young people leaving the region for better training.

And George Cowcher, chief executive of the North East Chamber of Commerce said: "The issue of skills is one of the most pressing problems facing our region. The greatest challenge for our future prosperity is how to successfully arm our future workforce with the right skills for the job.

"Bearing this in mind, this announcement will give employers considerable cause for concern."