Another £40m in cuts threatens Town Hall

9:06am Tuesday 19th February 2013 in Local

BOLTON Council could be forced to slash spending by a further £40 million, a new report has revealed.

Since 2010, Town Hall bosses have cut £60 million from the budget and tomorrow the local authority is set to approve this year’s budget, including further spending cuts of £43.6 million over the next two years.

And now, predictions show the council might have to cut another £40.8 million between 2015 and 2017.

Town Hall chiefs have also warned that the local authority’s ability to generate cash would be “virtually non-existent”, unlike in previous years.

A council budget report said: “In recent years initial forecast of the council’s savings requirements have proved to be understated and, therefore, savings of £40 million over the following two years are not unrealistic.

“Even if things improve, savings of £30 million are likely to be at the bottom end of any target and, even at this level, would be a huge service and financial challenge to the council.” The report added: “The council’s budgets have been subjected to significant reductions over the past two years and face even more challenging reductions in the future.

“The scope for the council to generate funds to meet one-off costs or replace reserves over the next four years is, unlike in the past, virtually non-existent.”

In the first raft of £60 million worth of cuts, the council axed 833 posts. Up to 538 more jobs are set to be lost over the next two years.

Bolton Council’s leader, Cllr Cliff Morris, has now called on the Government to do something to “kick-start the economy”.

He said: “It’s up to the Government to get the economy working and then pull back a bit. It needs to be trying to get people into jobs, rather than trying to cut them.

“They said there would be four years of austerity and then we would be on the right track, but now they’re saying it will be six to eight years.

“We need something to kick-start the economy.”

A full meeting of the council takes place tomorrow at 6.30pm where the council’s budget is set to be approved.

A demonstration organised by Bolton trade unions will take place at the entrance to the Town Hall before the meeting starts.

Comments(18)

oftbewildered2 says...
9:14am Tue 19 Feb 13

This is frightening - we seem to be being drip fed the bad news. What will happen if, in the worst case scenario, the Council is declared bankrupt?

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steveG says...
9:30am Tue 19 Feb 13

Profligacy of the recent past is now coming back to haunt all councils - not just Bolton and the only people not to feel the pain are - you guessed it,the Management of these ill administered institutions.

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Marzi30 says...
9:43am Tue 19 Feb 13

Councillor Morris is calling upon the Government to kick start the economy, this from a guy who fronts a joke of a Council who have discouraged shoppers and tenants into the Town centre but is only too happy to rubber stamp our shops becoming Pawnbrokers/Cash Generators, Pound Shops, Charity Shops and Bookies, or simply just leaving them stood empty. Bolton Council - Clueless

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georgethebrave says...
9:46am Tue 19 Feb 13

Scrap the new bus station that isn't needed, job done!!

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underwater says...
9:50am Tue 19 Feb 13

It will not make any differance to the residents of Bolton if some of the town hall staff are made to go. Many of them do not arrive at work untill about 9 30 and then wander around the well overheated offices clutching a bit of paper trying to look important,.they leave work early ,take days off whenever they feel like it and get well paid, plus a very large pension at the end of it. We could soon save a lot of money if we got rid of a few of these wasters.They do not seem to understand that they are the reason the town has no money, they are non productive and overpaid.

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8cup49 says...
11:46am Tue 19 Feb 13

I totally agree with everything that has been said, I work for the Council and the waste is unbelievable, up till a month ago they had a line manager on £28.000 +per year in charge of one member of staff who just did 2 half days a week another dept they finished 5 front line staff and then created a new line manager. They paid of 5 assistant directors and let one come back as a consultant and the Council being charged £1000 PER day I could fill every page in the BEN with total incompetence and wasteful spending. We are moving to new premises down in the valley its a little ironic that there is not enough parking so the council has provided free transport from one office to another, they are paying over £100 each to have some chairs recovered because they do not match the new decor oh and these chairs cost in excess of £650 each when new So yep they could save hundreds of thousands of pounds but hey lets put the rates up and help close more Town Centre shops and help squeeze even more our citizens on low income. By the way the pension if you pay into it is crap at the end of the day unless you are on big bucks. Ask what the Chief Ex would receive when he leaves. Perhaps Councilor Morris will forgo his huge part time for no work Manchester salary and donate it to a worthy charity oh forgot most Councilors believe in charity begins in my pocket.

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atlas123 says...
11:52am Tue 19 Feb 13

I think there is a degree of propaganda here... I think we are seeing the same cuts announced again and again.

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boltonchap says...
12:29pm Tue 19 Feb 13

How can we voters get anything done about the egregious waste at Bolton Metro? Come on BEN put a rottweiler of a reporter on the case, set up a whistleblower web site and start to ask the difficult questions towhich we all want answers but just get fobbed off by lousy management and elected members.

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gladrill says...
1:03pm Tue 19 Feb 13

How is it they can find money for bus stations and markets but not for services? Get you act together Bolton council before you get voted OUT.

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hoboh2o says...
4:27pm Tue 19 Feb 13

boltonchap wrote:
How can we voters get anything done about the egregious waste at Bolton Metro? Come on BEN put a rottweiler of a reporter on the case, set up a whistleblower web site and start to ask the difficult questions towhich we all want answers but just get fobbed off by lousy management and elected members.
Sorry but the Bolton news reporters are just that, they report whatever Morris and his mafia want them too. When was the last time you ever saw a true piece of investergation in a BN article?
BMBC would blank them if they started digging just like the Wanderers if they upset Gartside by questioning his choice of manager, illes is a BWFC puppet the politics reporters are the same.
Bolton council spends approx £2600 per every member of the population per annum long term they are looking at a 20% increase in the population of Bolton, you don't have to work to hard to figure that sum is going to reduce dramatically something will have to be done to protect the population in future years. Meddling Morris is not the answer.

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XTMike says...
7:21pm Tue 19 Feb 13

Who is brave enough to ask THEIR Councillor how much it has cost to put an unneeded very expensive fence around Queens Park along Chorley New Road and Gilnow Road taking about six months to complete the work?

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steveG says...
8:25pm Tue 19 Feb 13

XTMike wrote:
Who is brave enough to ask THEIR Councillor how much it has cost to put an unneeded very expensive fence around Queens Park along Chorley New Road and Gilnow Road taking about six months to complete the work?
Isn't it to keep the perverts in the park?.

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Marzi30 says...
10:05pm Tue 19 Feb 13

Try writing to a Councillor. I have written to Councillor Doris requesting that he or any member of the Council give me a guided tour of the Town to justify the ridiculous decision of applying for City Status, I recently wrote to him asking why in light of Bolton MP Yasmin Quereshi's concerns in the BN highlighting the debts being incurred by gamblers in the Town's Bookies does he see it fit for the Council to keep rubber stamping new Bookies opening up in the Town Centre. On both occasions I have received no response.

This is Your Labour Council folks, they don't give a **** about their electorate, aren't in the slightest bit interested. They are of the opinion that because Bolton has been largely Labour in the past they will continue to get voted in. Do not vote these imbeciles in again......Please !!!

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atlas123 says...
9:31am Wed 20 Feb 13

Is the fence at the park not externally funded I.e. lottery, europe money?

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boltonnut says...
1:00pm Wed 20 Feb 13

Kick start???? Bolton should start by kicking FAT Morris out.

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Changing times says...
6:12pm Wed 20 Feb 13

Get rid of Morris and things may just improve rather then the constant decline of the town whilst he is in charge.

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BWFC71 says...
9:17pm Wed 20 Feb 13

gladrill wrote:
How is it they can find money for bus stations and markets but not for services? Get you act together Bolton council before you get voted OUT.
The Bus Station money is coming from TfGM and NOT Bolton Council, but it is a bit rich that they are spending almost 5 million on the "open" market. How much money is being wasted on Council forms being in every God **** language availabler on this planet - Council forms should be in English and 1 other EU language, that all what happens in other EU countries - any cost for a translator comes from teh person wanting a translation and NOT the council!!! Plus it would get many minorities learning the countries mother-language, which again would actually benefit the town!!!

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hoboh2o says...
7:50pm Thu 21 Feb 13

Totally agree with the comment on council forms and provision of interrupters but you are a tad naïve in thinking that BMBC will not be contributing anything to the bus station costs by way of infrastructure spending etc. All major projects handled by governments /local authorities always have a plethora of hidden overspend costs of course none of these will be broadcast in the headline total to the tax payers of the borough.

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