What this consultation is about
We are now preparing to enter the seventh year of central Government cuts to local council budgets and councils up and down the country have some difficult decisions to make.
By 2018, our budget will be a third smaller than in 2010 – with more cuts set to follow up to 2020 and possibly beyond.
We’ve done everything we can to keep services running while our budgets are cut back year-on-year and we’re protecting frontline services and vulnerable people as much as we can.
We’ve put our own house in order by selling off land and buildings, reducing back-office costs and significantly cutting the number of senior managers. And we’re looking at new ways of doing things including helping families to be less dependent on our services and generating income so we don’t have to rely so much on Government funding. But the size of the cuts mean we have no choice about scaling back most of the services we provide.
In 2014 we closed two children’s centres following cuts to our budget. Now, following further cuts, we’re proposing to close up to 32 others across the county.
This consultation is now closed. A report was presented to Cabinet, 14 June 2016, agenda item number seven.