Barrow Borough Council has reported it is on track with its £2.7 million budget cuts.

The target was set back in September 2016 and has involved saving hundreds of thousands of pounds every year since.

It followed slashed funding from Government which left the council facing a deficit of nearly £3m by April 2020.

Ever since, town hall bosses have been working to close the gap which would have crashed next year’s budget unless action was taken.

Up to March 31 this year, a total of £1.9m of savings have been made from the £2.7m required, according to a report.

Further savings and efficiencies are planned between now and 2020.

The savings have touched many areas of the council’s departments and budgets.

It has involved the council having to limit budgets, reduce spending, increase prices and find savings.

The new figures to March 2019, show that since 2016, savings have been made from the following service areas:
£238,768 in street cleaning
£222,669 at The Forum
£133,504 from the Park Leisure Centre
£126,498 from commercial properties
£17,715 from allotments
£13,341 from playgrounds
£13,021 from Barrow Park
£12,587 from the borough’s dog kennels
£8,269 from The Dock Museum
£3,873 from public toilets

Some of the savings have been achieved by the council outsourcing key services to private sector operators rather than doing the work in-house.

Outsourcing jobs included waste collection and street cleansing, and The Park Leisure Centre which is now run on a 15-year contract by Life Leisure.

But the council has also made £465,000 of savings so far by bringing revenues and benefits back in-house from private firm Liberata.

Susan Roberts, Barrow Council’s resources director, reported that the council has so far saved £1.9m.

Cllr Kevin Hamilton, the Labour mayor of Barrow, commented: “The positive is that many people won’t have realised or felt the cuts that our staff have had to make. I didn’t enter politics to make cuts, I entered politics to help people but this is what Government cuts look like and where the savings have to be made.”

Cllr Hazel Edwards, the Conservative opposition leader, said: “Unfortunately, cuts had to be made because of the financial legacy left by Labour nationally. As councillors, we are the gatekeepers of ratepayers’ money. They want us to see it used efficiently. The council officers are doing a very good job working towards that.”