Warwickshire County Council approves budget
Warwickshire County Council has approved its budget which includes a council tax freeze for the 2011/2012 financial year.
The council, which needs to close a spending gap of £33 million over the next twelve months, has had to take difficult decisions but Council Leader Alan Farnell insisted the budget was “tough but fair”.
Cllr Farnell said: “Our proposals aim to protect the most vulnerable and the services that support them. We will keep people safe, foster independence and support enterprise. And with these aims we will do as much as our finances will allow.”
The council has also approved a council tax freeze which will benefit residents across the county. This puts a council tax D property at the 2010/11 level of £1,155.
In his speech to elected members, Cllr Farnell pledged: “We will strive to achieve value for money. And we are focused on providing a leaner organisation, essential if we are to have effective services.”
The council will forge ahead with its programme of service reform to improve outcomes for residents and lower costs. It will continue to share services and buildings with other councils and public sector bodies to achieve better value for money.
As part of the council’s drive to achieve greater efficiency, plans were announced to reduce property costs by a third to achieve a £4.4 million saving, and further savings of nearly £1.3 million and £1.85 million from ICT and finance respectively. The council also announced a major organisational restructure which has seen the number of senior director posts halved and a reduction in the number of other senior management roles.
In making sure that the budget reflects the priorities of local people, an online consultation process called YouChoose was launched at the end of last year which gave Warwickshire residents the chance to submit their own savings plans.
As a result, the budget approved today includes:
• A £1 million reinvestment in youth services to be directed at young people, particularly those who need it most
• £250,000 to be used to retain a smaller but vital network of road safety cameras where there are known accident blackspots
• Protecting £400,000 of funding to ensure there is no reduction in winter road gritting
Cllr Alan Cockburn, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Economy, stressed the importance of gritting Warwickshire’s roads in severe weather to keep citizens safe and Cllr Heather Timms, Portfolio Holder for Children, Young People and Families, welcomed support for youth services.
Cllr Timms said: “We applaud the passion shown by local people and if just a small proportion of that translates into action to support our targeted youth provision in the future then we can make some very positive changes.”
The council has predicted that it will have to make further savings of at least another £33 million from 2012-2014.