Council facing £61m cuts battle could shed further 1,400 jobs

A further 1,400 jobs could go at Wakefield Council as the local authority battles to cut spending by £61m over the next two years.

The swingeing cuts come on top of 1,000 jobs already shed by the authority since 2010/11 as more services are contracted out to the private sector,

A budget report on how the council aims to save the £61m in 2014/15 and 2015/16 is set to be discussed by the council’s cabinet committee next Tuesday and also includes further cuts to services and a two-per cent hike in council tax.

Council leader Coun Peter Box yesterday admitted the authority’s front-line services will deteriorate as Government funding cuts bite.

Swimming pools at Castleford, Pontefract and Knottingley face the axe and the new Wakefield Market Hall could be replaced by a cinema as the council bid to slash costs.

Council chiefs want to increase council tax by two per cent. That increase cannot be confirmed, however, until the Government agrees this year’s cap on council tax increases.

Cuts proposed to front line services in Wakefield include saving £20m from the adult care budget and £5m from services for children and young people.

Half of that amount is set to come by axing some children’s centres, along with cuts in youth support and services for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

And it is proposed to transfer the running of Pugneys water park at Durkar, near Sandal, to the private sector.

The authority wants to save £8m by changing the way bereavement services are organised and save £383,000 by scrapping its sports development team.

Coun Box said: “We’ve now reached the stage where it would be wrong to say that we can continue to protect front line services. We will do our best, but we can’t offer any guarantees.

“I hate to say it, but there is no doubt that service quality will start to suffer. This is the reality we face.”

The council is reviewing how it provides building services, facilities management, property and asset management, building cleaning, school meals and build-related architectural design services.

Council chiefs are inviting tenders for a single partner to provide them.

Swimming baths in Castleford, Pontefract, and Knottingley could be axed and replaced with just one new pool.

Council chiefs are to consider closing pools at Castleford and Pontefract and build a new leisure centre in the Five Towns area.

And proposals are being considered to close the pool but upgrade the health and fitness section at Knottingley Sports Centre.

A report into the district-wide leisure review will be discussed by the council’s cabinet committee next Tuesday.

The report states that swimming facilities in the Five Towns area need £1.3m of repairs and that the council cannot maintain its current leisure provision.

Following the closure of Minsthorpe Pool in South Elmsall in 2013, the council has announced plans to build a new pool in the south east of Wakefield district.

And Wakefield’s £3m indoor market hall could be scrapped, just six-years after it opened.

Sovereign Land (Management) Ltd, the owners of Wakefield’s Trinity Walk shopping centre, have approached the council with a proposal to redevelop the market hall site.

It would see the closure of the market hall and the building of a new multi-screen cinema with restaurants and cafés.

Council chiefs say market hall traders would be relocated within the city centre and the outdoor market would also go to a new site. The report recommends up to £100,000 is set aside to help market traders who want the opportunity to re-locate to other premises. A council spokeswoman said market hall traders have been heavily subsidised.