Decision details
Projected Budgets 2009-11
Decision Maker: Council
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: Yes
Purpose:
Update
Decisions:
At the request of the Chair, the Director of Finance provided the Cabinet with details of the Council’s investments in Icelandic Bank.
The Director of Finance then presented the projected budgets for 2009-2011 to coincide with the period of the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 (CSR).
The Leader of the Council moved a motion, duly seconded, and it was –
Resolved - That
(1) Cabinet recognises that these are difficult times financially for everyone and that it must do all it can to ensure that Wirral’s Council Tax Payers are not faced with the additional burden of high Council Tax increases. Cabinet understands the need to make urgent savings in order to close Wirral’s budget gap and therefore recommends the following:
|
Children’s Services |
|
|
|
£ |
|
Residential care – including reducing the numbers of children placed out of borough |
650,000 |
|
Facilities Management |
25,000 |
|
Instrumental music service – increase tuition charges. |
45,000 |
|
Technical Services |
|
|
|
£ |
|
Introduce £20.00 charge per visit (up to five items) for Eric Service. |
515,000 |
|
Refer traders to alternate sources of Community Funding for Christmas Lights from 2009 where more funding is now available if local communities wish to back their local traders. |
30,000 |
|
Capitalise £1,500,000 of highway improvements in line with current year provision. (Savings net of capital finance charges.) |
1,300,000 |
|
Delete remainder of Consultancy Budget required for Hespe exercise) |
26,000 |
|
Bring School Crossing Patrols in line with nationally evaluated DFT guidelines |
50,000 |
|
Delete publicity budget for Waste Control designed to cover introduction of new bin system which is now bedded in. |
45.000 |
|
Finance. |
|
|
|
£ |
|
Information Technology Services |
100,000 |
|
ITS Hardware Review |
50,000 |
|
Housing and Council Tax Benefit improved use of technology. |
600,000 |
|
Student Awards no longer being processed in One Stop Shops. |
50,000 |
|
Review of Cash Handling |
10,000 |
|
Treasury Management |
500,000 |
|
Corporate Services/Law,Human Resources and Asset management |
|
|
|
£ |
|
Reduction in costs as a result of new pay structure |
40,000 |
|
Reorganisation of EAT, RAT and Payroll |
85,000 |
|
2nd phase of Legal and Democratic Services |
40,000 |
|
Increased income from Registrars |
47,000 |
(2) Cabinet further asks that:
a) The Director of Children’s Services bring a report to Cabinet on Nov.27th on transforming youth and play services, including the impact of moving to district based services;
b) The Director of Technical Services, in conjunction with the Finance Director, bring a report to November 27th detailing the full amount of savings that can be achieved from the Hespe exercise, when a decision on the tender has been taken;
c) The Director of Technical Services set aside a provision of £90,000 to facilitate a rapid response to fly tipping;
d) The Director of Technical Services work with the Procurement Unit to review current contracts with the aim of reducing costs; and
e) The Director of Adult Social Services bring a report to Cabinet on November 6th reviewing the potential for efficiencies in 2009/10 arising from the Adult Social Services Transformational Change Agenda.
(3) Cabinet asks that the efficiencies contained within this motion be referred to the relevant Scrutiny Committees for urgent consideration before Council meets on November 3rd. Should this prove impossible in any instance, then, because it is considered to be in the Council’s best interests to implement proposed savings as early as possible, Cabinet asks Council to approve those items which have not been considered by Scrutiny committees where there is all party support and, in so doing, to suspend paragraph 2(a) of the Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rulesand to deal with the proposals in accordance with paragraph 2(b), i.e. where there is no such agreement, absence of which should be indicated by the lodging of an objection within the timescale set by Standing Order 7(2) (that is, by 10am on 29th October), Council is asked to refer the relevant item to the appropriate Overview and Scrutiny Committee for discussion and subsequent referral to the next Council meeting. Items already discussed by the relevant Scrutiny Committee will be dealt with in the normal way.
Publication date: 22/10/2008
Date of decision: 16/10/2008
Decided at meeting: 16/10/2008 - Cabinet
Effective from: 30/10/2008
Accompanying Documents:
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