Savage council cuts loom closer 6/8/10
Western Isles Council bosses have been instructed to seek ways to slash already hard-
The financial meltdown sees the local authority preparing to impose £24 million of cutbacks over the coming four years.
Swingeing cuts have to be implemented as the government severely curbs the amount of money that the local authority receives.
Every boss and department in the local authority has now been told to seek more ways to slash spending by a fifth.
The outcome of the exercise will be presented to councillors at a looming cuts’ seminar before being officially voted upon at formal meetings in a few weeks.
A council spokesman confirmed: “We are looking bringing forward options to be discussed at a seminar next week.
“This is part of the process we are going through as a result of the harsh economic climate all local authorities face.”
The council intends to hold public meetings across the islands in September to inform communities of the stark decisions it must implement
A blight of redundancies, slashed services and grant cuts to voluntary bodies is on the cards.
Eighteen schools are on a closure hit list which could result in scrapping of nearly half the islands' schools and pupils bussed elsewhere.
It is tied in with the council borrowing around £70 million under a hybrid private PPP scheme to build six new campuses which aims to slash its schools’ high maintenance, repair and operation costs.
Overall, the crisis means annual cuts and savings in services of about 5% every year
to 2014.
Senior bosses and white collar managers are unlikely to escape the axe with a possible revamp of their roles.
Virtually the whole council workforce may expected to be invited to consider some sort of voluntary severance.
The stark reality is already biting with a number of teachers opting for early retirement and about 10% of technical services staff have recently expressed an interest in leaving.
That figure may be a fair estimate of the number of jobs which could disappear across the whole council workforce.
The local authority is updating its voluntary redundancy scheme in preparation for staff departures.
Those remaining may be asked to work less hours in an effort to reduce the body’s £62 million wage bill.
Some unused surplus buildings are expected to be sold or at least disposed of to community groups to avoid expensive maintenance costs.