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Extra money for social services but 100 jobs privatised
CALDERDALE Council will spend £155 million on services, excluding schools, in 2008/9 – up nearly £1.5 million.
About 78 million will come from council tax payers, 67 million from business rate payers and nearly 10 million from Government support grant.
What you will pay: Click here to see a larger version of the chart.
An extra 1 million is being pumped into health and social care and an extra 1.5 million for children and young people's services.
That will be partly offset by a wide range of efficiency and other savings including changes to management and administration, and privatising the roles of some staff.
About 40,000 is expected to be saved by "outsourcing" Calderdale's 21 parking attendants, while centralising children and young people's services administration, and reducing the number of clerks by 20 to 100, should eventually save about 250,000 a year.
Employing more private sector and 70 fewer local authority home helps will eventually save the council about 200,000 a year.
Of the council's 7,000 staff, about 1,500 receive allowances for driving – a total of about 1.8 million miles a year, at a cost of 1.2 million.
The council intends to save 75,000 a year by reducing the mileage by 5 per cent.
An extra 200,000 a year will be spent on home help for the elderly and disabled and an extra 400,000 to top up the fees paid to owners of good and excellent private nursing homes, in an effort to raise standards.
Looking after more people at home rather than in residential accommodation could save 78,000 a year in the longer term.
An extra 50,000 is expected to be raised in 2008/9 from increased parking charges.
The telephone call centre for council tax and other benefit claimants is to be enlarged reducing costs by about 25,000 a year and greater use of computers should reduce administration costs in the parks and gardens department by 90,000 a year.
About 80,000 more is to be spent on expanding the council's internet site, including the appointment of a development officer.
Restructuring the environmental health department management will save 45,000 by 2010 while continuing to support the ISCAL factory at Ovenden, Halifax, for disabled people will cost an extra 50,000 a year.
It took councillors four hours to thrash out amendments to the Conservative budget and to kick into touch suggestions by Liberal Democrat leader Janet Battye (Calder) which would have limited this year's council tax rise to about 2.25 per cent.
Opponents unsuccessfully argued that there should be a detailed review of parking before any changes were made.
Labour councillors were unsuccessful in trying to head off a hike in parking charges in advance of the parking review.
Liberal Democrat proposals to set aside a small sum for officers to investigate council tax cuts for pensioners, as happens in neighbouring Kirklees, was defeated.
Click here to see a larger version of the chart.
They also failed to win support for a scheme to boost adult education classes by ensuring that not all have to lead to a recognised qualification.
michael.peel@halifaxcourier.co.uk
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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