£18m cuts in services set to get green light
8:55am Thursday 9th February 2012 in News
MORE than £18 million of cuts to services will be formally approved next week.
Bolton Council’s budget report for 2012/13 will be considered by the Labour executive on Monday, before it goes to a meeting of the full council later this month.
The majority of cuts, such as changes to the library service, have already been put in place, after the council drafted a two-year plan last year to achieve a total of £60 million savings.
About £42 million has been found in the current year.
The budget report confirms that a total of 833 posts have been deleted over the years 2011/12 and 2012/13.
The majority of these cuts have been delivered through voluntary means.
However, 31 council staff are currently seeking redeployment opportunities, the report adds.
As previously reported in The Bolton News, the council will now look towards 2013/14 and 2014/15.
The budget report states that another £35 million savings will need to be found over those following two years.
Council leader Cllr Cliff Morris said the council would continue to put the town’s most vulnerable people first.
He added: “We will look to try to improve the prosperity of the town.
“It is a given that we will continue to look after the most vulnerable.
“It will be the next budget that will be the killer.
“This has not been easy because a lot of staff have lost their jobs. There has been a lot of heartache and a lot of our services have had to be altered. We have had no option.”
The full executive will formally approve a council tax freeze for next year, and will also consider how to spend £175,000 remaining from its airport dividend.
Council chiefs allocated £200,000 to area forums after receiving £1 million from Manchester Airport last year.
The council part-owns the airport, with the nine other Greater Manchester local authorities, and receives an annual dividend.
Another £100,000 has been pledged to subsidise school meals, and £250,000 will support the council’s “Bolton 2012—A Year of Sport” initiative.
