Council redundancies

Redundancies as council tries to control finances 3/9/10

A range of council budgets have overspent by a total of over £1 million in just three months from the start of the current financial year.

The impact of the expenditure run over from April to the end of June is eased by making less loan repayments. This is because council slashed a number of big projects and construction works from starting which meant it borrowed less finance.

Overall, the council is left with a £426,000 overspend which - if left unchecked - could result in a £7.6 million loss by the end of the year.

Jobs are to go at the council’s property and street lighting maintenance operation. A recovery plan to try and stem the continuing losses is being implemented and trade unions will be consulted over redundancies. The authority’s road maintenance operation is also currently indicating a deficit.

The council is also seeking to identify savings from bus contacts because they are haemorrhaging cash - mainly due to inflation and fuel price rises. The transport service for social work clients leapt £390,000 over the expected limit. The subsidy for the islands’ public bus service has increased by around £200,000.

The community care service is about £600,000 over budget. Some £242,000 is due to paying for extra home help hours in Lewis and Harris. Extra sick pay for home helps has cost an estimated £82,000. Some staff received an one-off payment for owed overtime for last year which totaled £50,000. Residential and care home costs add up to an estimated £300,000 overspend.