A cabinet member to introduce the second stage of the council’s budget consultation process.
Minutes:
Cllr Peter John, Leader of the Council, explained that following the comprehensive spending review there would be a cut of about £80million to the overall budget. The cabinet of the council would ask MPs for clarity on what the cut would mean and voluntary groups had been asked to consider the implications. There was uncertainty and there may be challenges to the Government about the legality of some of the cuts. Virtually every service would have to be re-organised.
In response to residents’ questions, Cllr John said the council was looking at joint services with other boroughs which was challenging. The council did not want to get rid of discretionary services which meant residents’ input was very important. The three town halls were being looked at in terms of revenue as they were expensive to retain.
Councillor John invited residents to take part in the budget consultation. There were 27 red cheques and 7 green cheques. The cheques were worth £1million and the idea was to save £20million overall and to see where people thought money should be spent.
Cllr John and Cllr Colley fed back on a sample of the budget cheque ideas submitted.
Cllr John said he would be working with Cllr Livingstone (Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources) on a holistic budget for the next three years. The plan was to return to the community council in January to explain more about that.