Council appears to be heading for a ‘bottom upwards’ review

THE Budget nightmare as per the Bristol Post (November 3) is of little surprise to anyone. With what is happening nationally at Government – the £37 billion to £62 billion budget deficit – this will likely become worse for the people of our city.

However, not all the blame can be placed on the Government and adverse global events. It appears something is only acted upon when situations are bad, rather than running an administration or business efficiently in the good times.

It reminds me of being told to save for a rainy day. Now we have economic hurricanes that will hit households at the same time, when many are already struggling and facing hardship.

What really annoys in the report is the plan to reduce funding to libraries and children’s centres, and no doubt the jobs of frontline staff at the lower end of the council’s salary and pay structure. Libraries are the hubs for people of all ages and backgrounds to meet, study, access information, education and general reading.

Children’s centres allow ‘youngsters’ to play and meet others to develop their education, personalities, relationships, learning and confidence. These are key services, but no mention – other than the wide umbrella that no public services are safe.

The mayor must also look towards the highest paid officers, some earning well above £100,000, plus perks such as private cars. These officers are paid more than the mayor and backbench MPs and will no doubt be instrumental in assessing their own departmental budgets. Will it affect them? Unlikely, as the old cliche states ‘turkeys don’t vote for Christmas.’

So, the council must look at the top end of the salary and organisation structure to see where savings can be made and work downwards – thus protecting frontline services for the people. We appear to be heading toward a ‘bottom upwards’ review.

No officer should be paid more than £90k per annum. This is still considerably more money than a vast majority of working people will ever earn.

The old argument will of course be ‘we need to offer high salaries to attract the best’ – well, no one is indispensable, and no doubt other private organisations can easily outbid the council chasing quality candidates. Let the officers leave and see what difference this will make.

It is time to act and not always wait for recessions or worse.

Dave North Bristol