£13million council cuts bid set to start

7:00am Wednesday 16th January 2013 in News

TOUGH times are afoot in Thurrock as the council braces itself to make savings of around £13million this year, and £9million the next.

The council’s Labour cabinet was expected to agree a raft of draft cuts devised by officers at its latest meeting tonight (Wednesday), which will then go through the overview and scrutiny process before being debated by the full council in February.

The proposed cuts include £250,000 to borough police community support officers (Thurrock is currently the only authority in the county that subsidises PCSOs) £100,000 to the library service, £80,000 by trimming the grass cutting budget by ten per cent, and £50,000 from the fraud team by reducing the spending on agency staff.

The council also hopes to save £200,000 by putting the home to school transport contracts out to tender.

Cuts proposed for 2014 and 2015 include asking the Thameside Theatre in Grays to make savings of £250,000, and cutting the school improvements budget by £125,000.

Council leader John Kent has previously promised a “calm and measured approach” to having to make the cuts, and has said the authority is “competently getting on with finding savings that don’t effect frontline services”.

He also encouraged residents to have their say on how best to save money via the council’s Let’s Talk initiative on its website. Meanwhile Phil Anderson, leader of the council’s Conservative opposition, accused the Labour administration of “ducking the difficult decisions” by making lots of small cuts across the council rather than a “proper” strategy to control overall spending.

He said: “I have criticised them every year for failing to make any real reforms in the high spending areas, and once again their proposals look to be tinkering around the edges.

“Labour have resisted reform of Thurrock’s centralised education department, refused to relinquish control of loss-making leisure facilities and paid lip service to devolving decision making power to communities.

“Their proposals instead include plans to cut community policing and environment services, and “savings” that will cost more in the long run, like cuts to the fraud team.

“I hope that as more proposals come to light in the next few weeks the overall budget will be something residents and councillors alike can agree on, rather than yet another Doctor Dolittle budget which delays any real reform until we reach crisis point.”

Comments(17)

fletch12107 says...
7:51am Wed 16 Jan 13

No mention here about reduction in salaries for council officials or a reduction in councillors fees. Don't forget we are all in it together.

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thurrock_citizen says...
12:55pm Wed 16 Jan 13

fletch12107 wrote:
No mention here about reduction in salaries for council officials or a reduction in councillors fees. Don't forget we are all in it together.
fletct12107, I think you got that wrong... I think the saying is "you working class are all in it together, us bankers, MP's etc. will continue to make you pay for our mess ups"

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COUNCILRAJOKE says...
1:09pm Wed 16 Jan 13

How hypocritical of Thurrock Council - The Chief Executive's Paypoint as at 2012 was £175,000; other Managers etc are on £120K not to mention the Councillors nice littler earners..doubt they will cost cut in that area..?.!!! The data makes interesting reading on Thurrock Council website - do they think we were all born yesterday??? So I take it our Council Tax will be REDUCED then as services are being cut?....NO instead they will cut essential services (elderly and disabled peoples' services are usually Thurrock's easiest targets to cut)... Probably within the next year to 18 months the over 60's free bus pass will be cut next...mark my words... but if you are a Jobseeker(!?!) you will get free transport to doss around Grays...Ridiculous state of affairs...

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GrowupThurrock says...
4:37pm Wed 16 Jan 13

I do not understand why people constantly demand reduced council tax because of the cuts councils have to make. Everything costs more these days AND money from the government has been cut, so how do you expect the same level of service for ever and ever. Efficiency savings, trimming fat etc will only take you so far before actually changes need to be made. Far to many people rely on the council to do anything and everything.

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Mattster says...
5:14pm Wed 16 Jan 13

Typical Labour Council Attitude, when a Tory Government is in power slash and burn frontline services whilst keeping the backroom bloat and inefficiency. If people complain then blame the nasty Tory central Government.

Sorry, dosent wash anymore.

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Cvh says...
5:30pm Wed 16 Jan 13

Cuts start at the top goodbye John kent

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tilbury-ite says...
7:31pm Wed 16 Jan 13

Growup Thurrock.. yes "everything costs more these days" but I work within Thurrock Council offices and have not had a pay increase for years.. grates on me slightly when we constantly see the waste of ££££'s on the top bods and their little "jolly outs" to Auschwitz every year, not to mention their other "expenses"......what a joke. LABOUR are currently in control of Thurrock Council actually Mattstr ?.....and what a joke they have been.....

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tilbury-ite says...
7:34pm Wed 16 Jan 13

We can thank the legacy of the Labour Government..........
....NOT !!!

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COUNCILRAJOKE says...
8:01pm Wed 16 Jan 13

Still ...our Central Government obviously think we can well afford to send £14 BILLION each year to other Countries in Foreign Aid.. instead of waking up and seeing our own Country is in a dire situation...WHY WORRY??? It's laughable.......

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A Dermot says...
8:22pm Wed 16 Jan 13

Councillors expenses and allowances - £600k.

Don't see them cutting back at all? All I see is more overview and scrutiny committees being created so more councillors get more expenses.

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Dave_ says...
8:25pm Wed 16 Jan 13

The website lists 37 managers on salaries £60K+. This doesn't include the little extras, they will get.
Do we really need "directors" with 2, 3 or more 'managers' on salries in excess of £50K reporting to them?
If the councils actually generated it's own money, other than via US, then maybe this is acceptable, but as it stands no.
If you take it as a mid-point on the range presented a cut of 20% would still give a good salary and save over £600,000. If they don't like it, they can go to another council and get on their gravy train or go to work in the real world, where there is a bottom line to have to account for each year.

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TRANQUILDAY says...
1:43pm Thu 17 Jan 13

Let us not forget that Thurrock Council found £6000000 in their books a few years ago and built the kremlin in Grays. My husband works for the Council, cleaning up the roads and streets and if Thurrock residents and Thurrock Council Managers(thats a joke !!!!) were aware of how little these men do during the day, they would be disgusted. Their days end at 14.00 hours and they are paid until 16.00, work it out and that's without the managers who are spineless and cant/wont sack anybody who is lazy. We will be starting a campaign soon for anyone who sees a Thurrock Council van and men in it not working to report them! Its our council tax these lazy bones are wasting.

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d_2da_ougle says...
5:24pm Sat 19 Jan 13

can i ask a question, dagenham council has just recently built a brand new state of the art lesuire center, so have basildon im not talking little jobs here im talking millions of pounds and world class facilties, how comes these councils can find money to improve things in the face of cuts yet our council claims its completly skint all the time and unable or unwilling to make any decent facilties available in the borough, belhus and corringham pool are to small and always packed and blackshoots pool is flipping dated in my eyes

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A Dermot says...
7:31pm Sun 20 Jan 13

Thurrock Council has plenty of cash. They can increase their reserves from nothing to £8 Million in just over a year and build 200 council houses a year and put in a bid to buy the State Cinema. Something fishy about John Kent's claims about the council being skint me thinks.

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ThurrockResident says...
5:23am Tue 22 Jan 13

Don't forget as from spring this year the unemployed must pay a minimum of 25% of Council Tax. This has been brushed under the carpet and not discussed. How one is supposed to live on £72 a week and then pay Council Tax on top, God only knows!

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A Dermot says...
3:08pm Tue 22 Jan 13

ThurrockResident wrote:
Don't forget as from spring this year the unemployed must pay a minimum of 25% of Council Tax. This has been brushed under the carpet and not discussed. How one is supposed to live on £72 a week and then pay Council Tax on top, God only knows!
Perhaps they could get up off their lazy fat ar5es and get a job like the rest of us?

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ThurrockResident says...
4:48pm Tue 22 Jan 13

A Dermot wrote:
ThurrockResident wrote:
Don't forget as from spring this year the unemployed must pay a minimum of 25% of Council Tax. This has been brushed under the carpet and not discussed. How one is supposed to live on £72 a week and then pay Council Tax on top, God only knows!
Perhaps they could get up off their lazy fat ar5es and get a job like the rest of us?
I don't even get replies to my job applications so don't you dare spout that rubbish, A Dermot.What goes around comes around and you may find yourself without work. I paid my National Insurance for around 30 years and so have paid in a lot more than the pittance I am expected to live on. I take it you believe everyone who is unemployed is like the extreme examples that you read in the Tory press?

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