Just had this in from Dover District Council
"Like all other Councils, Dover District Council is preparing for exceptional financial challenges and pressures over the coming years.
We already charge one of the lowest Council taxes in East Kent and we have the lowest number of staff amongst the East Kent authorities. We are also amongst the lowest taxing and spending of all comparable authorities in England.
However, this also means that many of the obvious efficiencies/savings have already been made, and while it is always possible to do more, it is not possible to simply resolve the problem through further efficiency savings.
With expected cuts in our grants from central Government (potentially ranging from 25% to 40% in the worst case), falling income streams and increasing costs, this will mean real service cuts and reductions in the workforce.
The Council still aims for the services the public recognise as essential to be protected as far as is possible and for attempts to be made to reduce areas of administration that the new Coalition Government has decided are less important. We are, therefore, making every effort to minimise the impact on our residents. However it is almost inevitable that difficult decisions will have to be made and these will no doubt affect the local community in some way.
We expect the Government to announce the full financial implications in its Autumn Spending Review in October, but at this stage there is not sufficient information on exactly how much our grant will reduce. However, we must plan for some reduction and we are therefore taking the following steps:
• Modelling three possible scenarios and their impact on our budget:
o a 25% reduction in Government grant will require annual savings of £5.1m to be achieved within four to five years
o a 33% reduction will require savings of approximately £6.4m
o a 40% reduction equates to a budget saving of approximately £7.5m
• Working with partner authorities to deliver shared services where this has benefits for both the customer and identifies savings. A dedicated team, made up of staff drawn from East Kent authorities, has been set up to drive the joint services project forward, and a number of services are already being shared. It is intended to accelerate this process.
The combination of four Councils and the Landlord Services for Council Housing Tenants has already entered a consultation phase with all Council tenants and leaseholders, which, subject to their approval and the approval of the Government Department, could result in an amalgamated service by April 2011
• Delivering a freeze on council tax (subsidised by Government) and a proposed pay freeze (the latter currently being consulted on)
• Reviewing all services and service priorities, building on consultation responses we have received previously and through further consultation, to identify where reductions in services could be made, accompanied by a review of internal structures to seek better ways of managing and delivering services.
We would like to know your views on the Council's approach to the coming financial pressures, so for further information and the chance to have your say on service prioritisation please visit the website at
www.dover.gov.uk/priorityservices. If you are unable to access the website from home please visit the Gateway in Dover Market Square, one of our area offices, or your nearest library for access. If you have difficulty accessing the documents on-line, or you need a translation, please contact Customer Services by telephone on 01304 821199, or email
customerservices@dover.gov.uk and a paper copy, or translated copy will be provided for you."
Good to be ahead of the game and working towards keeping frontline services.
Things must change, so to start working them out now, is better than having someone from outside force them on you.
Roger