Council efficiency programme to ease the 'pain'

Councillor Greg Couzens

It was revealed at tonight’s (Wednesday 22 July) full council meeting that the council needs to find savings of £100million over the next five years to balance the books.

Conservative Councillor Michael Holly asked Finance Portfolio Holder, Councillor Greg Couzens if he was still “confident” this could be done without cuts in services. Councillor Couzens confirmed he is.

Councillor Couzens talked of the instigation of an “efficiency programme” which he said would identify where savings could be made without affecting council services and thanked Council Chief Executive Roger Ellis, the Council Executive Leadership Team and the Council Finance Department for “acting so promptly”.

In a pre-prepared ‘speech’ Councillor Couzens talked of the pain caused by the economic crisis and laid the blame firmly at the door of the Labour Government, saying: “Gordon Brown promised us no more boom and bust, and ironically here in Rochdale it’s the very same Labour party that criticise the most.”

He added: “I would like to reassure residents of the borough that we are doing all that is possible within our powers to alleviate the pain.”

Council Leader, Councillor Alan Taylor, said the council was looking at "zero based budgeting", a scheme rejected in the eighties but apparently now made possible by technology, whereby council departments start with a "zero budget" and have to justify all expenditure.