It also means that we are required to forge ahead with savings proposals at a pace
which precludes any possibility of meaningful engagement with others who
might be prepared to take over the responsibility for services which we are
no longer able to provide.
This undermines the whole Big Society concept by admitting that the headlong rush to slash services makes it impossible to identify alternatives and people will just have to suffer.
Letter from leader of Central Beds Council
I wrote to you last month, one day after the Comprehensive Spending Review
(CSR) announcement, to alert you to our corporate strategy to determine our
budget for 2011/12.At that time we anticipated that further detail had yet to be disclosed on
the implications of the full implications of the CSR.
Since then two things have become apparent. The first is that the reduction
in Government financial support to local authorities looks to be greater
than anticipated. The second is that the timing of the reductions will be
front- loaded. The effect of this frontloading means that the first and
second year of the 4 year term covered by the Comprehensive Spending Review
will require us to implement cuts that are particularly severe. It also
means that we are required to forge ahead with savings proposals at a pace
which precludes any possibility of meaningful engagement with others who
might be prepared to take over the responsibility for services which we are
no longer able to provide.
The effect of the further detail relating to CSR, together with additional
pressures emerging through the budget build process, mean that the Executive
will be invited to consider publishing for consultation further savings
proposals to the £14.5m already in the public arena at their meeting next
week. These additional proposals would then go into our scrutiny process for
examination.
The updated Corporate Budget Strategy is now published and available on the
internet
http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/modgov/mgConvert2Pdf.aspx?ID=2248
<http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/modgov/mgConvert2Pdf.aspx?ID=2248&T=9
> &T=9 and includes savings proposals for next year worth, in total, £8.3m.
These proposals include options that:
* bring forward and extend the reach of savings already identified in
the November report
* introduce new savings options
The Council is also seeking increased saving from the £90m p.a. it spends on
employment costs through changes to the terms and conditions of employment
with the aim of saving a further £1m (in addition to previously agreed
savings of £1m) over a two year period.
In total, the service specific proposals amount to £5.6m.
Should the Council decide not to harmonise council tax levels, additional
resources of £1.6m could be made available.
On top of these options, proposed increases in fees and charges amount to
£0.25m, reduced inflationary pressures on supplies and services amount to
£0.5m and a re-evaluation of capital financing costs as a result of a review
of our Capital Programme amounts to £0.4m.
There are some difficult decisions facing us as Councillors and I appreciate
that you will certainly find yourself being quizzed about the options by
local people who may find them unacceptable.
I do not anticipate that you will agree with all our proposals. However, I
wanted to make you aware of these developments as soon as possible and to
reassure you that we will be driven in setting the budget by the three core
principles of rigorous financial management, reality about what we can and
cannot afford to fund and, above all, responsibility to protect the truly
vulnerable.
There is still a fair degree of uncertainty about the full ramifications of
the Comprehensive Spending Review for local government. We are expecting the
Local Government Finance Settlement in December but I suspect that even this
will require some careful analysis before the picture becomes clearer.
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