2011/12 Council Budget

 

 

 

Due to the severe financial constraints imposed on all local authorities by the Government's austerity measures, extremely tough decisions have to be made.

But the Council, which faces having to make even tougher decisions for the next three years, has done everything in its power to minimise the impact of the budget on front line services.

Service provision has had to be reduced in some areas but the huge amount of work carried out on realising efficiency savings has meant that the Council is not stopping any services.

In addition, the Council tax for Southend, already one of the lowest in the country, has been frozen to ease the burden on residents.

To balance its books for the forthcoming financial year the Council has identified £15.489m in efficiencies across its five spending areas including:

• Adult & Community Services - £6.436m
• Children & Learning - £3.362m
• Enterprise , Tourism & the Environment - £3.328m
• Support Services - £1.883m and
• Corporate Policy & Improvement - £0.48m.

Contract renegotiations with service providers and contractors will help to realise £1.5m of savings in Adult & Community Services.

A further £600,000 of efficiencies have been delivered through the re-ablement programme which reduces the dependency of social care service users on high cost care packages.

The removal of above inflation allowances has led to a further £500,000 in savings and an increase in locality and mobile working has realised £470,000 in efficiencies.

In Children & Learning £829,000 savings have been made through efficiencies in the Early Years child care programme and £747,000 through targeted reductions in Connexions.

In Enterprise , Tourism & the Environment a review of service teams has led to £1,122m savings being identified.

Increased car parking charges will generate £350,000 and a merging of functions in the Street Scene and regulatory services teams will lead to a further £250,000 in savings.

In Support Services £300,000 savings have been unlocked in housing benefit subsidy efficiencies and £205,000 from facilities management contract renegotiations.

Inevitably, having to make such significant efficiencies in order to be able to present a balanced budget with the current financial constraints will result in job losses.

A total of 178 posts have been identified as being at risk, but 71 of these are currently vacant. Employees working in the affected areas and the trade unions have been fully briefed.

Despite the immense financial constraints placed on the Council it is pushing forward with a programme of investments which will further improve services and deliver savings in the future.

These include:

• the refurbishment of the Civic Centre, which will realise significant cost savings by leading to the eventual closure of the Council's four other town centre sites
• improvements to the Council's ICT infrastructure to allow more efficient working - such as mobile working, electronic document management and self-service through the website
• the joint replacement of Southend Central Library and the libraries at the University of Essex and South Essex College through the Elmer Square project and
• the £3m enhancement of Southend's world-famous Pier with a brand new cultural centre.

Council Leader Councillor Nigel Holdcroft said: "The current economic situation has made this the most difficult budget we have had to set in many, many years.

"But thanks to the major efficiencies we had already started making through our Delivering Excellence programme we have been able to minimise the impact on front line services.

"No leisure centres, arts or cultural facilities have had to be closed and despite reductions in service our Connexions youth service has been preserved, unlike in other authorities.

"A wide range of savings and income generation options have been identified through rigorous scrutiny of Council spending, public consultation and cross-party members workshops.

"But we know that our Government grant will reduce still further in future years so there are significantly tougher times still ahead of us.

"It is imperative that the Council addresses the financial challenges it faces, but this does not mean a reduction in service quality and ambition.

"On the contrary, the Council will remain a significant provider of excellent public services and regeneration schemes which will make Southend a better place to live, work and play."