Wiltshire Council’s budget for 2015-2016 has been set with £26,312,000 of savings identified or proposed. The target for savings was £30 million.
The Council is still investing in Wiltshire’s economy (£65 million in 2015-2016), building homes (£46 million) and its long-term campus scheme for the county’s main towns (£66 million.) And £30.6 million will be spent on road repair and maintenance during the coming financial year.
The introduction to the budget states that £123 million has been saved in previous years by reducing inefficiencies and back-office costs: “…the continuing reduction in funds means we now have proposals that start to challenge the level of service in most areas.”
“Whilst this is minimal in 2015/16 the on-going reductions will see more savings and tougher decisions having to be found across all functions in subsequent years.”
If the Council votes to continue the freeze on Council Tax (as the ruling Conservatives promised at the local elections), they will receive an extra £2,248,000 grant from the government.
The Council Leader, Jane Scott, is holding a series of meetings to hear the public’s reaction to the budget. The one closest to Marlborough is at the Corn Exchange in Devizes on Tuesday, February 3 at 5.30pm. If you want to attend you should email sharonl.smith@wiltshire.gov.uk
The budget with its savings/cuts and various pots of extra funding from the NHS and other sources is, of course, terrifyingly complex. But here are some headlines from the figures.
• Charges at Marlborough Leisure centre are unchanged – but the leisure contract Places for People is to be renegotiated to save £400,000
• Your Wiltshire magazine is to be online only – saving £69,000
• Concessionary fares: companion passes and taxi vouchers for wheelchair users are cut – saving £70,000
• The RUH and GWH hopper bus services will go as the government no longer funds this kind of scheme – saving £130,000
• Coming down the line is a £500,000 saving in the spend on public transport following a “complete review and transformation”
• The county’s tourism service, Visit Wiltshire, faces a £150,000 cut
• Wiltshire Wildlife Trust funding is cut by £85,000
• Charges for garden waste collection will bring in £800,000
• A review of recycling centre opening hours will save £300,000
• Music services for schools across the county face a £149,000 cut
• Housing rents will rise by 2.2 per cent
• There are variable rises in the fees for transport to school all are above inflation
• £354,000 will be saved by ending “C4 supported living contracts” – C4 houses are those with multiple occupation.
The most surprising cuts come in the adult and social care operations. Set against an extra investment of £6,000,000 (whether this is from the new Better Care Fund or from the NHS is not stated), are £6,450,000 of savings – leaving a very small reduction in the overall spend.
A review of care packages to see whether they should be re-charged to the NHS will save £250,000. There are two other lines of target savings worth £200,000. But there is a planned £6,000,000 saving wrapped up in the following words:
“Continued management of care packages to ensure people are cared for in the most cost effective way, usually at home, and that reviews keep periods to appropriate lengths thus managing increased caseload through reduced intervention and care time as residents are rehabilitated/re-enabled quicker thus maintaining costs within the budget envelope.”
Whether this comes under removing inefficiencies or reducing service quality remains to be seen.
The full Council will discuss the budget on February 24.
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