Council responds to Spending Review

Councillor Irene Davidson says the Council are looking at ways to make services more efficient, avoid duplication and stop delivering some work

The Chancellor yesterday (Wednesday 20 October 2010) announced a 28.4 percent cut to council funding.

The difference between the assumptions in Rochdale Borough Council’s budget forecast and the main grants they receive from Government is around £1million per annum.

However, interest rates are higher than predicted and the Council is still awaiting detailed information regarding the impact for the Area Based Grant (ABG) and other specific grants. Until further information is released, the council will continue to work on the current assumptions.

This means the announcement was broadly in line with what the Council expected and the savings target for Rochdale now remains at £50 million for the next financial year.

Pam Smith, Executive Director, Rochdale Borough Council said: “We now need to analyse the detail and find out exactly what this all means for Rochdale. We have been planning for large scale savings and efficiencies for some time and have a managed process in place. We have taken a realistic approach to our plans, but it is too early to know exactly what they could mean for residents.”

Although the Council now know the percentage of cuts to local government, it will not be until the Local Government Financial settlement is finalised later in the year when the full details of the reductions for Rochdale Borough Council will be known.

Council Leader Irene Davidson said that it is important that the council delivers the best value possible for taxpayers and that the council lives within its means:“We have all known for some time about the scale of the public spending deficit and we have been anticipating this level of reduction in the local government grant.

“We are looking at ways to make our services more efficient, avoid duplication and stop delivering some work, but unfortunately there has to be a reduction in jobs.

“We have had a lot of suggestions from staff about how we can save money and some good ideas have already come out of our consultation. The next few months are going to be a huge challenge for us all as we work out our detailed budget for 2011/12.”

Details about the savings proposals planned in Phase 2 will go to the Cabinet for consultation next week and residents will be invited to comment on these shortly afterwards.