A presentation will be given at the meeting.
Minutes:
Cllr Mike Connolly, Leader of the Council and Steve Kenyon, Assistant Director of Resources & Regulation (Finance), gave a presentation detailing the key financial issues facing the Authority and subsequent efficiency savings to be made for Bury Council’s 2015/16 budget.
The following key facts were presented:-
· For 2015/16, £16 million will be cut from budgets. This equates to a loss of £54 m (50%) of the budget in 5 years.
· This means the Council will need to prioritise key services at a time when residents’ needs and expectations are changing and demand for services is increasing.
· In order to do this the Council are exploring alternative ways of delivering services and reviewing organisational structures.
· For 2015/16 the Council have received only 1 year’s funding settlement information from the Government, which has yet to be confirmed.
· The Council’s core funding from Government is likely to be cut by 13% (to be confirmed).
· The Council will also face cuts to a number of grants received from the
Government, for example Early Intervention and Education Services grants. This is in addition to pressures from levies from other bodies and uncertainty following the localisation of Business Rates.
The meeting was informed of the following key measures to address the cuts:-
· Alternative Service Delivery Models - £3.420m
· Third Sector - £0.200m
· Income Generations - £2.012m
· Better use of External Funding - £3.376m
· Savings from the way the Council buys things - £1.320m
· Managing Assets - £0.726m
· T & C’s, Restructuring and vacant posts - £3.229m
· Improved Recycling - £0.862m
· Reduction in provision of services - £0.662m
Bury Residents were being informed of the financial issues facing the Authority as part of a consultation process for the 2015/16 budget and were being asked to consider changing expectations about service delivery; working more closely with individuals and communities to deliver services ie. volunteering/self management; a stronger focus on demand reduction such as self care/early intervention/personal responsibility; examining alternative ways of delivering remaining Council services and changing the way residents access services – “digital by default”.
In terms of the next steps, it was reported that from 6 November 2014 to 9 January 2015 the Council will be consulting residents and stakeholders on the package of cuts needed for 2015/16. This will be followed by a review of the consultation feedback which will be fed into the budget setting process for 2015/16. The Council will debate the 2015/16 budget and formally approve a package of cuts. Residents were informed of the various ways they can contact the consultation team and leave comments by 9 January 2015.
Questions and comments were invited and the following issues were raised:
· In response to a question form Councillor Walker, the Assistant Director explained that recent legislation, in terms of the Council
Tax cap imposed by Central Government, meant that it was unlikely to be relaxed in the near future.
· The Assistant Director confirmed that the cuts needed for 2014/15 were all new cuts and not carried forward from previous budgets.
· In response to a request from Councillor Walker, the Assistant Director undertook to provide figures in relation to the number of redundancies in 2013/2014
It was agreed:
That the information provided be noted and Councillor Connolly and Steve Kenyon be thanked for their presentation