Council planning £26m of cutbacks (From The Northern Echo)
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Council planning £26m of cutbacks
8:00am Thursday 9th February 2012 in Newton Aycliffe News
LIBRARY opening hours face being reduced, community wardens cut and service charges increased as a council faces cuts of more than £26m in a year.
Durham County Council’s Labour cabinet yesterday backed proposals to cut 20 neighbourhood warden jobs and increase fees for services, including Durham City parkand- ride.
Council house rents are also expected to rise by 6.2 per cent – an average of £3.71 a week, to an average of £63.05 a week. The news comes ahead of the authority’s budget being agreed at a full council meeting.
Meanwhile, councillors also ordered a 12-week consultation on cutting opening hours to 36 a week at 11 town centre libraries and 20 a week at 27 community branches.
Mobile library services would also be reduced to save £1.5m overall.
About 250 library staff could be affected. Only Clayport, in Durham, will escape the cuts, having had its hours reduced last year.
The council faces cuts of nearly £190m between 2010 and 2017 – about 40 per cent of its spending power.
Council leader Simon Henig said: “We are facing a major financial challenge. We are in the middle of one of the biggest (spending) reductions ever seen in the North-East.”
The authority also plans to freeze council tax, protect the winter maintenance budget, introduce new charges and cut back-office spending.
Coun Henig rejected opposition claims that all the savings necessary could be made from cutting management as a “complete illusion”.
He said the number of County Hall bosses earning more than £50,000 a year was 45 – not 250 as Tories and Lib Dems had claimed.
Lib Dem councillor Amanda Hopgood questioned what she called the cabinet’s onesize- fits-all approach to libraries, saying her local branch, in Newton Hall, could lose 23 hours a week – more than half its total.
Coun Henig said the only alternative to cutting hours was closing branches.
The authority’s budget is expected to be agreed at a full council meeting on Wednesday, February 22.
Consultation on the library proposals will run until Friday, May 4. To take part, visit durham.gov.uk, email l i b r a r y . c o n s u l t a t i o n @ durham.gov.uk or call 0191- 383-4403.
Comments(4)
Steeleye
says...
6:25pm Thu 9 Feb 12
Jolly Roger wrote:How many bosses would you have for an organisation employing 22,000 people?
Coun Henig said:
The number of County Hall bosses earning more than £50,000 a year was 45.
So can he state how we have 45 bosses in County Durham and what jobs they do.
Because I think there are too many bosses, as You Coun. Henig are the boss so you say.
And you and your cronies are cutting services, so why cannnot you cut some of these Jobs at the top.
As 45 x 50,000 is over £2m.
And this is just the top bosses, if you cut the overlapping jobs fron the other areas you will cut the wage bill even more.
So do what we the tax payers want and start cutting these jobs NOW and not services like the libraries and wardens which IMO do a useful service.
The Grim North
says...
7:00pm Thu 9 Feb 12
Massive savings could also be made (and jobs, pension funds and services safeguarded) if they just cut sick pay for all public sector employees to half pay. That way the appaling sickness rate in the public sector would be cut dramatically.
bishop1
says...
10:59am Sat 11 Feb 12
Jolly Roger says...
5:45pm Thu 9 Feb 12
The number of County Hall bosses earning more than £50,000 a year was 45.
So can he state how we have 45 bosses in County Durham and what jobs they do.
Because I think there are too many bosses, as You Coun. Henig are the boss so you say.
And you and your cronies are cutting services, so why cannnot you cut some of these Jobs at the top.
As 45 x 50,000 is over £2m.
And this is just the top bosses, if you cut the overlapping jobs fron the other areas you will cut the wage bill even more.
So do what we the tax payers want and start cutting these jobs NOW and not services like the libraries and wardens which IMO do a useful service.