Budget consultation and video goes live
Residents are being urged to have their say on wide ranging budget proposals which will result in Telford & Wrekin Council making £30m of service cuts.
The online consultation has gone live today at www.telford.gov.uk/budget and is supported by a new video which details what the council is proposing and how residents can get involved and help.
The consultation will run until February 8 and will be supported during the coming weeks by a series of public roadshow events – including two budget information sessions on Tuesday January 19 at Oakengates Theatre @ The Place.
The Council has already made £80m worth of cuts since 2010 but its Government grant will be cut next year by another 20%.
Cutting a further £30m will hit many services the community relies on, with a number of proposals due to come into force by April 2017 including the Council no longer running community centres, a number of children’s centres and most of its libraries.
Over the next year, the Council will talk to a range of organisations in the borough to seek new ways that community groups or partners could run these services.
Councillor Lee Carter, cabinet member for Finance and Service Delivery, said: “We’ve done a lot of work over the past few weeks to highlight to residents the situation we are in and now we need their feedback, help and input.
“There are two short videos on our website that they can watch that gives them the financial context we are in and then what we would like as many people as possible to do is respond to the survey that will be live on our website at 9am on Friday 8 January.
”We do not want to make cuts but have no option. However, we will seek to do this in as fair, open and compassionate a way as possible and will make decisions only after involving our residents.
“We will be talking with many partner and community organisations to together explore alternative ways to continue services that by April 2017 we will no longer be able to afford to provide.
“The budget will see an additional £3m next year for services for vulnerable children and adults and continue protecting as far as possible these areas from the worst of the cuts.”
While the budget has almost 200 separate proposals, its main focus is on 32 services with the most significant impact on the public.
Proposals include:
· Closing council run libraries at Dawley, Donnington, Hadley, Madeley, Newport and Stirchley
· No council-run youth clubs
· No council-run community centres
· No council-run markets
· Less Council run children’s centres
The Council is consulting on three possible council tax options. The first is to “freeze” council tax and implement the 2% additional charge the Government has assumed councils will add to the Council Tax to raise extra funds ring fenced for adult social care services.
The Council will also ask residents if it should raise council tax to help lessen cuts to key services by an additional 1.2% or 1.9% (over and above the 2% Government assumed adult services charge).
The first public roadshow event will be at the Park Lane Centre at Woodside between 11.30am-1pm on Wednesday 13 January followed by one at Newport Market between 10.30am-12.30pm on Friday 15 January.
