Council needs to 'modernise' services in order to avoid future cuts as 'austerity 2.0' looms

Officers have said that some services offered by the council need to be modernised and streamlined in order to avoid future cuts.

As part of the council’s priority to deliver value for money to taxpayers, a ‘strategic business case’ has been developed which ‘sets out opportunities for service improvement’.

The programme has set out to ‘redesign’ the way the council delivers local public services within the context of ‘ongoing challenges’.

In the budget set last year, councillors agreed to set aside £3 million a year for the following three years in order to pay for the transformation of services.

Speaking to members of the council’s corporate services and economic growth overview and scrutiny committee, the council’s finance chief, Jan Willis, explained: “We’re probably looking at austerity 2.0. If we don’t achieve savings by streamlining and modernising we will have no alternative to start cutting into our core services.

“Many councils are already in that position. I think we’re fortunate that we have a bit more time to get to grips with this programme.

“My concern is I don’t want us to be in a position in a few years time where we have to cut services residents rely on.”

Council leader Glen Sanderson said staff would be involved heavily in the process to ensure the changes went smoothly.

He said: “This is a plan to make sure that all members of staff understand what we’re doing. If they don’t understand and they’re not with us it won’t work and we want to make sure they agree with what we want to do in some cases differently and in some cases better.

“It’s not coercion, it’s working with staff. We needed to do this piece of work to provide value for money in services.

“The key point is we put the customer first but the staff have got to be with us on this to mould the way we do things and make sure we do the best we can. It’s about working with us to make sure we hit that key priority of value for money.”

The administration hopes that, by spending £9 million on transforming service delivery, £20 million will be saved from the council’s budget on an annual basis going forward. However, some members of the scrutiny committee were concerned about aspects of the report.

Coun Caroline Ball, Labour councillor for the Ashington Central ward was concerned about potential savings identified in the budget for adult social care. The strategic business case identified savings of £960,336 in year one, £1,92,0,672 in year two and £960,336 in the third year for a total of £3,841,344.

Coun Ball said: “If we take any more money out of adult social care, it’s already on its knees. How are we going to reduce demand for high cost independent living programmes? People need this and the sector is absolutely on its bones.

“If we’re relying on private companies to sort this out, the companies can’t get the staff. The staff are working all hours God sends.”

The committee agreed to note the report and the new plan, which will be presented to the council’s cabinet today.