Hampshire County Council needs to find £30m in savings to avoid front line cuts (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Hampshire County Council needs to find £30m in savings to avoid front line cuts

9:25am Wednesday 17th February 2010 in

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HAMPSHIRE council chiefs are proposing a 1.9 per cent rise in council tax for the second year running.

Bosses are looking to find £30m in savings over the next two years to avoid cuts in front-line services such as social care, highway maintenance, refuse disposal and libraries.

The cost-cutting drive includes a pay freeze for thousands of staff, slashing petrol expenses, reducing the use of agency workers, and other corporate expenses.

In addition, £8m will be taken out of reserves to balance the £672m budget for 2010-11.

Schools are funded by a separate £892.8m Government grant.

Residents will be charged an extra £20 a year in council tax for an average Band D home, taking the total to £1,037, excluding police, fire and district/parish charges.

Leader of the Conservativecontrolled council, Ken Thornber, said: “We are keeping our promise from last year to only increase the council tax by 1.9 per cent in 2010-11.

“This will mean that while there are no reductions to our service budgets, we are only able to provide an increase in funding for social care services for adults and children.”

Extra funding is needed because of the growing number of frail elderly and a rise in the number of children taken into care after the Baby P scandal.

Under the budget proposals, there will be an additional £7m for adult services and £1.5m for children’s services.

Other budget proposals include £600,000 to triple the number of salt bins across the county, and £1m to build two new salt barns.

The county is planning to stock an additional 6,000 tonnes of salt —enough for 18 days’ gritting.

But there is no new money for mending potholes, despite the damage caused to roads by the recent big freeze.

Cllr Thornber said an additional £2m was allocated late last year, adding: “I am pretty confident that that will be sufficient.”

At the same time an additional 299 jobs will be created. This follows last year’s budget when the county workforce swelled by 700 to 40,000 — making it larger than the Royal Navy.

Most of the new jobs will be in schools with 183 extra teachers and support staff, plus 41 new staff at children’s centres. These posts are funded by government grant and not council tax.

In addition, there will 18 more escorts to school, and 54 vacant posts in adult services filled, including care assistants in council- run care homes.

On top of the £15m corporate efficiency drive, the council is looking to find £19.5m annual savings.

Adult services will bear the biggest savings, worth about £14.9m where officers propose freezing payments to private care home providers.

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Keith House said: “The Tories have built up reserves over a long period of time so they can use it to keep council tax rises down.

“We have criticised them in the past and said council tax should have been lower.”

Cllr House said the Liberal Democrats were concerned about spending proposals not in the budget, such as skills training for young people, and support for businesses in the recession.

Council tax now funds 78 per cent of the £672m proposed budget. The government will be providing just £148m, up 1.5 per cent.

Hampshire gets central funding worth £114 per person, the lowest given to any county council in England and Wales.

The budget will be considered at a meeting of the full council at The Castle tomorrow.

What do you think about the proposed rise? Leave your comments below