Council ask for public help to face budget crisis
NORTH Lanarkshire Council is asking for the public's help to raise at least £55 million after warning of massive cuts in jobs and services.
The authority last week revealed a package of proposed savings to cover the next two years and now plan to hold a public consultation to discuss these and any other ideas.
Chief executive Gavin Whitefield said: "We don't have all the answers but hope through this engagement exercise that good suggestions will be made."
Council leader Jim McCabe said: "When there is a crisis in the Government's finances local authorities are inevitably the easy target for cuts.
"We didn't create this situation but it is being left to us to deal with."
An estimated 1,153 jobs could be cut in a bid to save 24 million, but the council hopes to avoid compulsory redundancies as far as possible by not filling nearly 600 vacancies and through natural turnover, early retirals and voluntary redundancies.
Other major savings proposed include:
• 1.8 million by reducing school transport
• 800,000 by increasing the number of children in English and maths classes
• 765,000 by scrapping the community warden scheme
• 300,000 by no longer putting up Christmas decorations.
The council is also looking to generate income by charging for services that are currently free including:
• 2.70 a week for users of community alarms which would raise over 1.1 million,
• 2 a week for users of the garden assistance scheme would raise 458,000
• 100,000 by charging for pest control
• car park charges which could bring in more than 1 million.
Councillor McCabe added: ""Over the years we have invested heavily, but we are now faced with making extremely difficult decisions.
"I asked the chief executive and his team to put together a package of potential options for savings and they make for painful reading."
The SNP believes the cuts will have the biggest impact on the most vulnerable.
Opposition group leader Richard Lyle said: "Not only will the cuts result in major job losses, the council will hit the most vulnerable by proposing charges for certain services that were free.
Full story in September 9 edition of Times & Speaker
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Friday 25 May 2012
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