Council chief asks for ideas to help plug £8m funding gap
CASH-STRAPPED Cheshire East Council has imposed a recruitment freeze and the acting chief executive has written to all staff asking for ideas on how to cut costs because of an £8m funding gap.
In a memo to staff, Kath O’Dwyer states: “Having assessed our current spend for this year (2019/20), we have an approximate £8m gap between what we are likely to spend and the budget available - clearly our current level of spend simply isn’t affordable or acceptable.” She continued: “We must therefore cease all spending on non-essential activity with immediate effect.
“I am asking that all teams take all available opportunities to reduce net cost against the 2019/20 budget and also share ideas of how we can make other in-year savings.”
The acting chief executive outlined three areas where costs should be cut. This includes deferring all recruitment wherever possible ‘or plan to fill new posts but aim for April 2020 start dates’, stopping all non-essential or non business-critical expenditure and, where possible, deferring all procurement activity.
She added stopping spending in 2019/20 ‘does not have the effect of reducing the budget on a permanent basis’.
The funding gap relates to the budget which was set when the council was under Conservative control. A spokesperson for Cheshire East Council confirmed the document was genuine and had been sent to council staff.
“This is normal procedure when the council is faced with any projected year-end budget overspend.
“To date, despite mid-year projected overspends in previous years, the council has always delivered a balanced budget out-turn,” said the spokesperson.