Barnsley Council: ‘No choice but to slash services’ says leader

The authority’s 63 members will meet at Oakwell this morning to debate plans to cut spending by £26m over the coming year.

Savings will eventually have to total £44m by 2015, with some 1,200 job losses predicted.

The Labour leadership’s proposals include the closure of three of the town’s 14 public libraries, at Kendray, Priory (Lundwood) and Grimethorpe. The council says it is now working with the voluntary sector in an effort to maintain some form of library provision in the areas which will suffer.

A wider savings plan involves combining remaining libraries with ‘Barnsley Connects’ customer centres around the district.

Council leader Steve Houghton says he has no choice but to slash services due to the scale of the cuts imposed by Government.

“People need to understand that with these levels of cuts we have few, if any, options,” he said. “People will suffer and the borough will take years to recover.”

Coun Houghton’s proposed budget also includes the closure of two of the council’s customer service centres, and big cuts to museums and parks staff.

Plans to cut community safety wardens and school crossing patrols have proved controversial, and street-sweeping services would be cut in half.

Free swimming will end and cemetery and crematorium fees will rise by 10 per cent. Pest control services will cease to be free.

Services to the vulnerable will also be hit, with home care budgets slashed by more than £1m and a Government-funded programme offering breaks for disabled children coming to an end.

The council’s draft budget still contains a sizeable black hole which will need to be addressed during the year, however – and councillors have been warned that if they reject any of proposed cuts today, this gap will only widen.

“If the full range of savings proposals are accepted, there still remains a gap of £3.6m in the budget figures,” the budget report states. “This must be closed by some combination of further in-year savings, the reduction of staff terms and conditions, or the prudent use of available reserves.

“Any savings proposals not accepted will increase the gap to be bridged by the above means.”