More Barrow Borough Council cuts possible
Last updated at 16:17, Monday, 18 March 2013
A WARNING has been issued that more cuts may have to be made at Barrow Town Hall.
Barrow Borough Council is to lose up to 18.65 per cent from its annual spend for 2013/14, making it one of the worst-hit authorities in the government’s funding allocations.
However, a transition grant of £1,132,000 could see the cut partly mitigated – if the council meets government criteria on efficiencies. If the grant is applied, the council’s spending power will still drop by 8.8 per cent.
In 2012/13, the council was again one of the worst hit authorities in England, as it saw a cut of £4m from its annual budget.
Swingeing cuts have been made already: with jobs cut, service costs increased and funding for organisations reduced.
The council has set out its budget strategy, a three-year plan which will see more than £5m worth of reductions from the council’s post-cuts budget.
A medium term financial plan set out by the council looks ahead from the original strategy and sets out the council’s financial plan from 2013/14 to 2015/16. The plan has identified that there will be a £1m gap at the end of the budget strategy, which is higher than the original estimation of £600,000.
In a report prepared for the executive committee, borough treasurer Sue Roberts said restructuring reserves which have been earmarked to fill the shortfalls in the short term will not be able to cover the deficit by 2016.
She said: “2015/16 is the final year of the budget support agreed in the budget strategy, this makes the ongoing deficit £1m.
“Beyond 2015/16, the £1m deficit must be corrected. The council’s reserves will not be sufficient to maintain the current budget levels in future years.’’
Leader of the council, Councillor Dave Pidduck, said the increased figure was of concern and had arisen because of council tax increase caps, a lower than expected income from car parking and decreased income from Park Leisure Centre.
He said: “Obviously we have another two years to go on our budget strategy, but it is something that we will look at over the next years.”
The executive committee will meet at 2pm on Wednesday to hear from the borough treasurer on the report.
First published at 16:05, Monday, 18 March 2013
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk
fat cats ,, fat wages ,,,, seen as the services have been cut ......... i suggest we dont pay council tax ! countrys gone to the dogs ,,, unless yr on the public sector gravy train that is ......... joke system .
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Well that's a laugh ...... Decreased income from the Park Leisure Centre if you got your act together Mr Johnson and got the artificial pitches back in use you might get some income!! In last weeks article on this subject it was stated that the work will be complete sometime between April and June now if I had work being done, I would be tying them down with a more definite finish date than sometime over a 12 week period!! It was mentioned the delay was due to bad weather, funny how the school across the road hasn't been affected! Get your act together and you might get some income!!!
Posted by Fe male on 18 March 2013 at 22:32