Warwickshire faces the challenge ahead
Warwickshire County Council has announced its biggest spending challenge to date.
The news follows the Government announcement of a 26% budget reduction for councils over the next four years. Although the exact details of Warwickshire’s settlement will not be known until early December, the county council will have to make unprecedented savings of up to £60 million by 2014.
In a speech about the future direction of the budget yesterday (2 November), Cllr Alan Farnell, leader of the Council, said: “We know that there are going to be some difficult years and some tough choices ahead.”
Cllr Farnell said that the council would base decisions on the principles of:
Protecting the most vulnerable
Keeping people safe and independent
Supporting growth where it is affordable
And offering value for money.
The council has predicted a worst case scenario of up to 1,855 jobs that could be at risk over the next three years, although it is hoped that the number of staff affected will be far lower.
The council has stressed that it will do all it can to avoid compulsory redundancies through a range of measures such as natural turnover and leaving vacant posts unfilled.
The council plans to achieve up to £60 million of savings in the following ways:
£17m through a leaner organisation with fewer management and support services.
£7m by raising income e.g. increasing charges where they can be afforded.
£20m by reforming services e.g. sharing services and buildings.
£16m through the tough choices of stopping some services completely.
Cllr Alan Farnell continued: "The pace and magnitude of the financial challenge requires large scale reform. We are well placed to do this. Over the last four years the council has been undergoing a transformation programme to do things differently, more efficiently and to deliver better outcomes for residents. We have put into place a leaner management structure through reducing senior roles over the last few years by a third.
“We will be tough but fair. Our aim is to protect the most vulnerable and the services that support them. We want to keep people safe, foster independence and to support enterprise but we also need to achieve value for money.
“I have asked council officers to scrutinise every area of spending and investigate fully the choices available to us so that we can continue to provide essential front line services within our reduced budget.
"We are seeking to minimise any redundancies by not recruiting to vacant posts and through natural turnover as we seek to address the budget over the next three to four years.
“Although we don’t have a choice over having to make up to £60 million of savings by 2014, we will have a choice over the way we spend at least £220 million a year and we will make every pound of taxpayers’ money count.
“This is the biggest challenge this council has ever had to face. We believe that it is essential for our council and our community to pull together to tackle the tough times ahead. We will take this opportunity to review, reform and improve our services to put Warwickshire in a sustainable position for the future.”
Warwickshire County Council will be launching a number of interactive tools, including an interactive financial reckoner on the council’s website, to enable people to be able to see how each financial decision impacts on council services.