Councils facing a cash meltdown as cuts bite (From Malvern Gazette)
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Councils facing a cash meltdown as cuts bite
10:10am Wednesday 16th January 2013 in News By Tom Edwards
SMALL councils face becoming unsustainable if ongoing cuts to their funding continue, according to a new report.
Grant Thornton’s new document into the status of local government finances, called Towards a Tipping Point? says there are fears for the future of town halls.
It comes as district councils across Worcestershire have admitted they are being hammered by continuous funding reductions.
Worcester City Council needs to save an extra £250,000 by 2015 on top of the £1.2 million already due to be slashed from spending. Rural town halls are being hit even harder, with district councils in Malvern and Wychavon both requiring fresh cuts of about £1 million during the same time period.
Wychavon District Council is the worst hit authority in the county after the Government slashed funding by seven per cent in 2013/14 and 15 per cent the following year. The report says there is the “possibility” of smaller councils becoming “unsustainable”, and that tougher times are ahead unless the economy picks up.
It also says there are concerns about “strategic financial planning”, suggesting councils are struggling to balance the books and focus on delivering services.
Councillor Bob Banks, the cabinet member for resources at Wychavon District Council, said: “It really is a good job we’ve relied on good husbandry in recent years, which will give us time to prepare a plan for making the savings we need to make.
“What we are being asked to do will require a very concentrated approach, but there is no doubt we are being hit very bad.
“We are making our representations to the Government but whether it’ll do any good, I don’t know, the jury is out.”
Worcester City Council has said it is having to make “savings on top of savings” but is hoping 26 job cuts by 2015 will go some way to plugging the shortfall.
Jon Roberts, regional head of public sector assurance at Grant Thornton, said: “Our analysis and discussions with the sector indicate a potential tipping point is on the horizon.”
He said that confidence is “weaker than a year ago”, when many councils hoped 2013 would show signs of improvement.
Comments(9)
pudniw_gib
says...
11:29am Wed 16 Jan 13
Two that spring to mind are the felling of a large healthy tree in town and the erection of a sculpture in a local park. £15k I think it cost. No idea of cost of tree felling. All this is money we do not have. These people are in denial about the finances and the public are the ones who get the services cut back.
I have been to council meetings and the majority of the members seem to be not really in a world of their own and treat the town as a pet project they have a big pot of money to use on.
I would be happy if they cut the grass along my road side a little less often tbh if it meant youth or elderly services were saved.
Get real.
sarah and her chickens
says...
11:39am Wed 16 Jan 13
They just spent £40 000 on the spas and sauna at the Splash, whilst I have been informed that slm the management company at the pool have not paid any rent back to the council...ever!
They a are creating a new wheelie bin system that will take 7 years to pay for itself (allegedly) so for 5 years w will have to pay out more money to support it.
They have upped the resident parking permits dramatically and used bizarre figures to explain why even though sales have dropped the risk has been a success....they live on another moor affluent planner than the rest of us where the real things that matter are less important than what the offices want
Lew Smoralz
says...
11:49am Wed 16 Jan 13
- Why cannot Worcestershire council manage refuse collection?
- Why cannot the county council manage libraries?
- Why cannot the county council manage education? Mind you, much of that is now outside council control already, or should be.
You can halve the number of councillors, the city council is run by a cabinet and councillors have become increasingly redundant.
There is much that can be done to reduce council waste, so far they have only touched the tip of this iceberg.
laidback
says...
1:43pm Wed 16 Jan 13
laidback
says...
1:48pm Wed 16 Jan 13
Karl Hunderson
says...
2:01pm Wed 16 Jan 13
Lew Smoralz wrote:I'm all for reducing waste but...Worcester County Council have no refuse collection facilities(these are provided by district or city councils) so they would therefore have to start from scratch - wasteful surely. Worcs County council currently DO mange libraries. You contradict yourself over education - do you want schools managed by the county council or not? If not then each school would have to duplicate all the services currently provided by the county council - wasteful surely? If you are equating duplication with inefficiency then where do you draw the line? Services are duplicated across counties, regions and nationally, usually with good reason.
As a first priority I suggest that the local councils stop duplicating services already provided by the County council. That only produces waste in duplicating administration.
- Why cannot Worcestershire council manage refuse collection?
- Why cannot the county council manage libraries?
- Why cannot the county council manage education? Mind you, much of that is now outside council control already, or should be.
You can halve the number of councillors, the city council is run by a cabinet and councillors have become increasingly redundant.
There is much that can be done to reduce council waste, so far they have only touched the tip of this iceberg.
Landy44
says...
3:26pm Wed 16 Jan 13
Unfortunately councils (at all levels) and central government are inept at managing OUR money and THEIR spend. They have accidentally forgotten how they are funded and who their customer and shareholders are. Personally, I think they should be banned from using the word "revenue" and should use the words "tax takings" or "income from legalised theft".
At the same time, they know enough to encourage divisiveness and fragmentation within the electorate, probably so we don't collectively realise what is actually going on here.
It's one thing to put up taxes and cut services, claiming "we're all in it together", but unfortunately the councils (and central government) continue to waste OUR money on vanity and cosmetic projects. Alternatively, they start programmes to try to "help" us - funny how I always feel worse off after I've been "helped" by the council/government.
The point about duplication is a good one - there are simply too many "levels" of local government and there needs to be some rationalisation at all levels, with appropriate services being delivered at the appropriate level at a sensible cost, depending on what the local electorate prioritise.
Sadly, it's a pipe dream. This country is bankrupt, as are many others, and the councils and government seem determined to rearrange the deck chairs on the titanic, hoping we won't notice that they are stealing the lifeboats for themselves.
More Tea Vicar
says...
4:02pm Wed 16 Jan 13
But there is so much obvious waste. Obvious things; road repairs seem to be done deliberately poorly, so they can go back and do it again.
Trees and shrubs are planted in large numbers ridiculously close to walkways, so there is always a 'need' to go back and cut them again.
The South Worcestershire Development Plan. How many people are involved in that? The Tories never mention it in their literature, so they know it is neither wanted nor needed.But they still devote staff, and our money, to it.
I even have my doubts about the Worcester Swimming Pool replacement. The current building isn't brilliant, but in straitened times, maybe it will just have to do?
These are obvious, visible, things - along with Ms Haines' ridiculous salary.
I can only imagine it's the tip of the iceberg, and that there is plenty of fat to be cut away.
DarrenM
says...
6:59pm Wed 16 Jan 13
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