£9.6m budget cuts put more jobs under threat
MORE job cuts could be on the way at Rochdale council as town hall bosses look to slash another £9.6m from the budget.
Cabinet members met on Tuesday to discuss the latest round of government funding cuts.
To balance the books finance chiefs need to cut £3.6m from the 2019/20 budget and a another £6m from the following financial year.
Over the last nine years £178.1m has been cut from the council’s budget.
The details of where the cuts could be made have not been made public at this stage, but a report which went before Cabinet on Tuesday said it is thought less than 100 jobs could be lost.
The report stated: “Some of these proposals could potentially result in a reduction in the number of established posts within the council and depending on the outcome of consultation and final decisions made these will be deleted as a consequence of these proposals. The council will seek to minimize the number of employees who may be compulsory redundant.
“In this respect, the council will seek to provide suitable alternative employment wherever this is possible and will seek to achieve reductions by voluntary measures wherever possible, by seeking volunteers for early retirement/voluntary redundancy in areas where staff are affected by the proposals.”
A 45 day public consultation, which began yesterday (Friday), has now been launched.
Council leader and Cabinet member for finance, Coun Allen Brett said some ‘tough decisions’ would need to be made.
He added: “These are proposals - not decisions, so we want to hear our residents’ views.
“As always, we continue to look for ways to reduce spending or increase income which have the least impact on frontline service delivery. Savings continue to be made as part of dayto-day improvements in the way we operate, but the funding we receive from central government has significantly reduced while the cost of services and the demand for them has increased, so tough decisions still need to be made. We welcome our residents thoughts on how can achieve savings.”
To take part in the consultation visit rochdale.gov.uk/savings
Cabinet will meet on October 30 to consider the consultation responses before final decisions are made at Budget Council in February 2019.