Council creates £100,000 role to make cuts

COUNCILLORS have approved plans to appoint a cuts manager on a £100,000-plus salary whose brief will be to help find £20m in savings between now and 2023.

Gwynedd Council approved the £104,747 package to fund a project manager over a two-year period as an “invest to save” measure.

The manager will try to find savings of up to £20m as part of the 2018-2023 council plan.

Cabinet member Councillor Nia Jeffreys said: “It’s vital that we squeeze every last penny of efficiency savings that we can by being innovative while providing the best possible services... This is a fine example of a one-off cost in order to achieve permanent savings.”

According to the report presented to cabinet, the post holder will also be responsible for setting up the council’s new leisure company. Gwynedd Council currently runs 12 leisure centres – Bala, Bangor, Arfon Leisure and Tennis Centre, two in Caernarfon, Porthmadog, Tywyn, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Pwllheli, Dolgellau, Barmouth, Bethesda and Penygroes – at a cost of almost £5m a year.

It currently subsidises the service to the tune of almost £1.9m, with around £3.1m being generated through admission and membership fees. But the council feels the new company will allow it to make savings of around £585,000 a year – without affecting its leisure provision or staff.

A council spokesperson said: “Less money for local councils in Wales has meant that since 2015 Gwynedd has had to save £6m. This work was led by a team of officers who were responsible for delivering projects to save money across council departments. This team will be replaced with a single temporary post for two years who will receive an annual salary of between £36,153 and £39,002.

“This officer will lead the work of delivering further council savings of up to £20m. This includes leading the work to establish a new company to run the council’s leisure centres, a project expected to deliver annual savings of £585,000.”