Ed, Many thanks for a concise synopsis, I have digested it thoroughly over today day and I have questions for you:-To clarify, Hounslow Council needs to save £60m over 4 years. The central government share of the Council's funding for the next budget has already been cut, which means the savings have to be front loaded. The Council will therefore cut £18m from the forthcoming budget, £18m the year after, £12m the year after that and £12m the year after that - unless of course the coalition government changes their mind on local government funding which seems unlikely.1. Why? Is it necessary to cutback 18 Million Pounds on the forthcoming budget then 18 Million on the year second year, then 12 Million the third year then 12 million on the 4th year that is a difference of 6 Million Pounds each year on the first 2 years. Surely it is possible to cutback 15 Million over the 4 year period, you say yourself that at your Executive Meeting you have found just over 15 Million and that you have to find a further 3 Million which needs to be found in time for the budget, this gives one the impression that this is a difficulty finding the 3 Million. Then Why not I reiterate use 15 Million on a yearly basis. This £60m does not include many of the central government grants which fund some Council services. Decisions on many of these have not been made yet. But many will undoubtedly disappear, some already have, which means the Council will actually have to make more than £60m worth of cuts, but you won't see all of these in the Council's budget. Right now Council staff are trying to find every funding option they can to save vital services.2. It would seem that you pre-empt a supposition and purely on that, action is to be taken on something that has not been decided by Central Government. However you give a definitive when you say that many grants will undoubtedly disappear.A) Which ones-How much do they cost?B) Why? Will we not see these in the Council’s Budget, is this because these funds are a golden egg gift to be utilized outside of the budgeted figures that we are privy to see?C) How much is it going to cost us for the Savings & Transformation Team!! Sounds too much like a Quango!!I wasn't a Councilor when the decision to refurbish Brentford Fountain Leisure Centre was made so I do not know the details about it. That’s a poor excuse Ed!! 3. When ever I took over a department, I made it a rule to always find out how the dept, had been organized and run by my predecessor, what was in the pipeline. A weekly & monthly forecast of expenditure was a must also management meetings kept us on track, efficiency in the Finance Dept saves you money!!! So just how much did the Leisure Centers cost us?? The Treasury has set aside an extra £650 million to help local authorities in England freeze their council tax next year...The new grant scheme will be open to all billing and major precepting authorities, including police and fire authorities, which decide to freeze or reduce their council tax next year. If they do, they will receive additional funding in 2011-12, equivalent to raising their 2010-11 council tax by 2.5 per cent. The Spending Review also commits to providing authorities with additional funding in future years to "lock in" the benefits of the one year freeze and help ensure council taxpayers will not face subsequent excessive increases."So a "small" increase in Hounslow Council tax would not benefit anybody.4. Doesn’t this mean that Central Government has in fact paid the Communities Council Tax Increase for us!!Just one quick point to address remarks about the allowance received by the Chair of the Licensing Committee. The 15 Councillors who make up this committee used to pocket £500 per year each just for sitting on the committee. That equals £7500 in total. This arrangement has now been ended and instead the Chair receives a £6400 Special Responsibility Allowance (SRA) each year, the same as the other major committee chairs. So this is actually a small saving for the Council.5. Just how many committees also how many members are there, are they really necessary, seems an awful waste of money when we have so many councilors. And for the record, as an Executive Member, I have cut my allowances overall by 25%, as have all other Councillors who receive SRAs. Councillors who do not receive SRAs have all cut their "basic" allowance by 5%.6. Well done! But what are SRA’s Ideas on saving money!!7. All Council Management earning over one hundred thousand pounds a year take a pay cut to 100k maximum, by golly that would save a lot of money.8. Hold off buying 100 New Uniforms, make do with what they have, send uniforms being used now to the cleaners. They will look as good as new and save a fortune.9. Penalize “JLS” for over-running at Isleworth ”Leisure Campus”.10. Have a Qualified Inspection of all Estimates, encourage other Contractors to put in estimates. TIED TO ONE YOU GET STUNG
Dawn Hardy ● 5560d