Ray Mallon Budget: "From where I sit this is the least worst option" (From The Northern Echo)

Ray Mallon Budget: "From where I sit this is the least worst option"

6:01pm Thursday 15th December 2011 in News By Lucy Richardson

BUDGET PROPOSALS: Ray Mallon, Mayor of Middlesbrough

A MAYOR faced with saving £13.8m said he had no choice in deciding which public services to close.

After revealing that most of the 78 initial cost-cutting proposals are to go ahead with the loss of about 120 jobs, Ray Mallon, Mayor of Middlesbrough, unveiled new suggested budget savings including increasing council tax by 3.5 per cent.

Click here for a full list of the 2012/13 budget recommendations and proposals

Amongst the costliest reductions will be securing a price freeze on residential and nonresidential service care contracts, which have a current value of £25m, which will save £1.1m and axing 30 council senior management and support posts saving a further £1,525,000.

Southlands Leisure Centre, Marton and Easterside libraries and North Ormesby Youth and Community centre which had been theatened with closure will be saved.

When Mr Mallon announced the original proposals on October 5 he said priority would be given to protecting the vulnerable, maintaining services such as street cleaning and bin collections, and supporting the town centre.

Youth and community centres, library and children’s centre which were set up to help poor families will close in some wards which are in the top one per cent of deprivation in the country.

Mr Mallon said: “These are easy decisions to a large extent because there are no other options. It makes me very uncomfortable but if I took notice of every member of the public we would not do anything. From where I sit this is the least worst option.”

Among the raft of new proposals which would result in the loss of up to another 47 posts, he is proposing to reduce the number of lollypop men and women at school crossings, reduce council funding for dealing with mental health issues in schools, stop funding the annual Town Meal and introduce an entrance fee at the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum.

At an extraordinary meeting of Middlesbrough Council held on Wednesday night, he added: “We live in an extremely uncertain world but we must protect the finances of this town and we must deal with the 'x factor', not the television programme but the unknown.”

“We have got to accept that we could get cut further into the next parliament no matter who is in the seat of power.”