Council funding announced Options

[Richard Garvie]

2011-12: 2.6m reduction of settlement
2012-13: 2.9m reduction of settlement

The new figures include new pots of money icluded within the settlement so not entirely sure what these headline figures mean. Is it a bigger reduction hidden by the other pots of money being included, or are we seeing the results of the Government "finding" £19bn in the welfare pot? Hopefully full details will be in todays NWN, although I'll be relying on them to be published here!!! Lets hope it's the latter, with less cuts required in the annual budgets.

[Simon Kirby]

I'm afraid I still don't know how I feel about the WBC cuts.

I have little evidence that WBC is hugely inefficient or is providing heaps of services which can't easily be justified so it's not unreasonable that a cut in their grant can only mean a cut in public services, and that a cut in public services is going to be inconvenient for a lot of us and devestating for some. It would be nice that it were otherwise, but it ain't.

But on the other hand I am suspicious. I'm suspicious because Newbury Town Council is small and open enough to see inside and I can see that they are indeed hugely inefficient and so there's guilt by association. I'm also suspicious because WBC are not very open about where the money is spent and the budget simulator looked suspiciously like an excecise by the WBC officers to talk up the pain in order to protect their empire. I also have no confidence whatsoever that my councillors will ask those awkward questions and serve my interests over their own. I don't think they even know what questions they should be asking, and I'm very, very unhappy that they don't engage and the most we see of them is a bit of petty politicking.

So I'm a bit non-plused about the cuts at the moment, but my gut feeling is that it's a really good thing.

[blackdog]

I'm just confused - £2.6 million is not a huge amount in the context of their overall budget. Far greater sums have been mentioned recently - is this a let off? Were bigger figures put forward in order to make this level of cut a relief? Or were the big figures a figment of the opposition's imagnination?

[Richard Garvie]

Well, the story on Newbury Today suggests cuts of £11m next year, but I was told the new settlement is actually a reduction of £2.6m rather than the proposed £8m cut. The figure published by central government only suggests a £3m cut for the fllowing year, so I'm guessing the total cut over the next four years will be around £12/15m which is a cut of around 14% over four years. From what the conservatives in West Berkshire are saying publicly, they believe the cuts are worse than expected. If the figures published by central government are to be believed however, we have actually came off a lot better than expected in terms of the settlement.

The only other factor is the amount of extra services being bundled into local governement and the amount of funding received for them. I do know that we can expect to see a real terms reduction in education funding for schools in West Berkshire as we will be worse affected because of the pupil premium scheme.

[Richard Garvie]

UPDATE:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11987246
http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1795445 - see point 6 of "note to editors"

2011-12 will see a cut of 2.04%... We got away lightly compared to what we expected. We will see a £2.6m cut instead of an £8m cut.

[On the edge]

Frankly I'm not surprised the cuts are not that bad for West Berkshire. Thats because lorry loads of cash have already been siphoned out and squirted into Scotland and Wales and other 'deserving areas'. A fat lot of good that did us all and still the Scots and Scousers moan.

However, its doubtful that WBC would have done any better. So this isn't about diverting cash - more about keeping it where it can be properly used. That ain't with 'the Council'.

[Iommi]

Is £12,000.00 pounds spent draping lights over the Clocktower a sign of austerity?

[user23]

Is £12,000.00 pounds spent draping lights over the Clocktower a sign of austerity?

Aren't the lights "draped over" the clock tower from the NTC Christmas decorations?

[Simon Kirby]

Is £12,000.00 pounds spent draping lights over the Clocktower a sign of austerity?

That was my first thought. It's obscene. Yes, they're nice and shiny, but £12k? And right now?

[Simon Kirby]

Aren't the lights "draped over" the clock tower from the NTC Christmas decorations?

NTC don't appear to have got involved. The report said it was WBC, and I've seen nothing in the NTC minutes and accounts about a seperate £12k.

[user23]

NTC don't appear to have got involved. The report said it was WBC, and I've seen nothing in the NTC minutes and accounts about a seperate £12k.

They're the same ones as last year, won't they be on last year's accounts?

[Richard Garvie]

Although I can't see the clock tower right now, I think you are confusing two items. The Xmas lights are not the lights reported in the media, they will be fitted shortly and I have no idea how much they will cost. The Xmas decorations are simply that, the LED lighting for the clock tower will be installed at a later date, whether that is a good use of public money is for you to decide.

[Iommi]

They're the same ones as last year, won't they be on last year's accounts?

What, when there was a recession on?

"NEWBURY’S clock tower is positively glowing after the installation of a new multi-coloured LED illumination system.
The Clock House in the Broadway, which has been in place since the late 1920’s, has been fitted with new architectural LED lights to create an attractive feature at the northern end of the town’s main shopping street.

The atmospheric lighting has been funded by West Berkshire Council at a cost of around £12,000.

Designed to create an interesting night time attraction, the lighting will complement the refurbishment work recently carried out to the Clock House by Newbury Town Council.

Subtle white or amber lighting will be used most of the time, but there is also the possibility of using coloured filters to celebrate special occasions such as Christmas or Valentine’s Day.

The lights will be officially switched on by district councillor Jeff Beck (Con, Clay Hill) at 5pm tonight (Wednesday)."

http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article...articleID=15389

[Richard Garvie]

Something to look forward to seeing when I get home then!!! Apologies for my post above, I wasn't aware they had been installed already.

[user23]

What, when there was a recession on?

"NEWBURY’S clock tower is positively glowing after the installation of a new multi-coloured LED illumination system.
The Clock House in the Broadway, which has been in place since the late 1920’s, has been fitted with new architectural LED lights to create an attractive feature at the northern end of the town’s main shopping street.

The atmospheric lighting has been funded by West Berkshire Council at a cost of around £12,000.

Designed to create an interesting night time attraction, the lighting will complement the refurbishment work recently carried out to the Clock House by Newbury Town Council.

Subtle white or amber lighting will be used most of the time, but there is also the possibility of using coloured filters to celebrate special occasions such as Christmas or Valentine’s Day.

The lights will be officially switched on by district councillor Jeff Beck (Con, Clay Hill) at 5pm tonight (Wednesday)."

http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article...articleID=15389

These aren't the lights draped over (as you put it) the clock tower.