Information on Loughborough

Proposals to balance budget unveiled

Posted on 04/01/2010

Leicestershire Councty Council Cabinet Office

4 January 2010

Proposals to balance budget unveiled

Proposals to meet spending pressures, tackle a £66 million funding gap over four years and freeze Council Tax have been unveiled by Leicestershire County Council.

The Council is proposing, following public consultation, to:

• Freeze Council Tax in 2011/12-2013/14 - but this is dependent on top-up funding, if a Conservative Government is elected

• Make £47 million of efficiency savings and increased income and save £19 million from its services, to meet an expected funding shortfall

• Invest £46 million to meet extra spending pressures, mainly in Adult Social Care and Waste

Council leader David Parsons said: “We have been very honest in setting out the size of the problems we face, due to Government debt, the recession and increased demand for adult social care and waste services. We have also lost £117 million of Government grant over the last five years, compared with the average.

“We’ve worked hard to find as many efficiency savings as possible and will continue to do so, but it is inevitable that people will see a reduction in some services and higher charges.

"We have listened to what the public has said and that has shaped our proposals – we are targeting services on those who need them most. People now have a chance to make further comments.”

Please use the following link to view a full copy of the Draft Budget Report.  It will be considered by the Cabinet at 2pm on January 12th and by the council’s scrutiny committees, before the Cabinet meets again to consider any responses and the full Council makes a final decision on February 24th.

For interviews, please contact the press office on 0116 305 7046.

Further details:

Examples of extra investment over the next four years, to meet extra demand or increased costs, include:

• Adult Social Care - £30 million

• Waste Management - £6.5 million.

The £47m efficiency savings are spread over all services.

Examples include:

• Reviews of a number of services, including communications and library services

• Management restructuring in a number of departments

• Abolition of the Community Services department

• Boosting recycling, to reduce waste that incurs landfill tax

• A review of transport fleets, to use them more effectively

The £19m proposed service reductions for the next four years break down as follows:

• Children and Young People’s Services - £2.5million (including School Transport)

• Adult Social Care - £10.3m

• Highways and Transportation - £5.3m

• Chief Executive’s - £0.9m.

Examples of savings from services include:

• Targeting Adult Social Care services on the most vulnerable people

• Removal of the quick response service for road repairs, so that all non-emergency work is undertaken through planned maintenance

• Removal of council subsidy for Arts in Education and the Adult Learning Service

• Removal of non-statutory school bus services

• Reduced opening at libraries, museums and the Records Office.

The Council estimates that approximately 650 of its 6,000 full time equivalent posts, excluding jobs in schools, will go over the next four years. It has pledged to minimise compulsory redundancies, through its redeployment policy.

Despite the savings, the Council’s annual net budget (excluding schools) is predicted to increase from £325 million to £344 million over four years, due to increased demands for adult care services and the development of more environmentally-friendly ways of tackling waste.

Last month, the Audit Commission’s new CAA inspection system said Leicestershire County Council is “performing excellently” and provides good value for money. The report said the council is good at managing its money and making savings to spend on the most important services and its Council Tax is low compared with other areas. Leicestershire was also top-rated county in a Price Waterhouse Coopers report which compared services and costs.