Knowsley Council: Budget 2011/12

16 February 2011

Knowsley Council’s Cabinet has today put forward plans to achieve the final phase of the Authority’s £23.6m savings targets for 2011/12.  The proposals will be considered by the council at a meeting on 2 March 2011.

The Cabinet has proposed a budget for next year which would protect front-line services and freeze council tax.  It would also be delivered without the need for compulsory redundancies to permanent council staff.

In the wake of a 20% reduction in Government funding, the council is asked to set a budget of £171m having made a huge range of savings to meet a budget shortfall of £23.6m in 2011/12.

The Cabinet has worked extremely hard to protect front-line services and make sure that facilities like libraries and children’s centres remain open.  Instead, the majority of savings are proposed to be made in the following areas:-

  • £4.3m from senior management posts
  • Approximately 430 permanent staff posts deleted through voluntary severance, managed redeployment and early retirement
  • Reduced and redesigned back office and support services
  • Further efficiencies across the council

Despite those immense challenges, careful planning and sound financial management has enabled the Cabinet to commit to a number of key projects for the benefit of residents in 2011/12:-

  • Town centre regeneration plans for Kirkby and Stockbridge Village would continue as planned
  • Plans to revitalise Prescot town centre would be developed
  • Eligibility criteria for adult and children’s social care would be maintained
  • The replacement of street lighting across the Borough would go ahead
  • The planned investment into leisure facilities across the borough will be delivered, with new facilities in Stockbridge Village, £1.4 million investment in Prescot and a state of the art Leisure & Culture Park on Longview drive, Huyton.
  • Key street scene service levels would be maintained for streets, highways, town centres and parks

In addition, the Cabinet suggests freezing council tax for the first time to help residents.

Cllr Ron Round, Leader of Knowsley Council, said: “The harsh cuts imposed on us by the Government mean that this is undoubtedly the most difficult budget we have ever had to set.

“We have had to take some incredibly tough decisions to meet our huge budget shortfall, but we have remained firm in our belief that we must not cut frontline services.

“Our vision is to improve the lives of people in Knowsley and, although our resources are severely diminished, we are continuing to invest in projects which will have a positive impact on our residents and communities.

“I am particularly pleased that we have been able to manage the reduction in our staff numbers through voluntary means. Around three-quarters of our employees are Knowsley residents, which means that any staffing reductions will have a major impact on our communities, so I am grateful to our staff and trade union colleagues for their support and co-operation.

“However, I must stress that there are still major challenges ahead and we are already working on ways to meet the further Government cuts anticipated over the next three years.”

Cllr Norman Keats, Knowsley Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance and IT, said: “The scale of cuts imposed by this Government is completely unprecedented and the front-loading of those brutal cuts has made our 2011/12 budget incredibly difficult.

“We have lobbied successfully to retain some protection, but our grant settlement from the Government was still incredibly poor, with a reduction in funding of 20% from last year.

“We have only been able to reach this point because of our careful planning and sensible financial management, which meant we anticipated these cuts and began preparing for them last year.

“The next few years will not be any easier, as we are already looking at ways to meet a budget shortfall of around £30m over the three years from 2012/13.”