A charity for people with learning difficulties has opened a consultation with staff about proposals to make up to 80 redundancies, cutting one tenth of its workforce.

Linkage Community Trust, based in Lincolnshire, announced the start of the 30-day consultation period on Tuesday. During the process, the charity said it will also look to offer redeployment where possible.

The charity, which provides education and care for people with learning disabilities, said that it continues to face increased financial challenges as a result of changes in the demands for places within its educational services.

It said a fall in student numbers for residential accommodation means that fewer care staff are required to support residential students. 

However, the charity added that the figures for day learners continue to rise.

The charity said financial challenges were also a result of five years of limited fee increases which reflect the economic pressures on commissioning authorities.

Ges Roulstone, chief executive of the charity, said cuts in funding meant it had to make savings of £1.3m in the next year and this will need to be achieved by redundancies affecting a maximum of 80 posts. The job cuts would affect educational and care roles.

"We deeply regret the need for redundancies and have tried to avoid this situation, but Linkage is also facing up to changes to the operating environment, which continues to be difficult for charities across the UK,” he said. 

Linkage Community Trust delivers specialist education, care and employment support services to learning disabled people. Linkage College accommodates both residential and day students at its campuses in both Grimsby and Toynton All Saints, while its Care services offer supported accommodation and respite care.  

It had an income of £15m in the year ending August 2012 and employs around 800 staff.