‘No-nonsense’ attitude urged as council maps out budget cuts

Every household in Sheffield will soon receive a letter from the leader of Sheffield Council, Julie Dore, outlining the budget pressures the authority faces.

Sheffield Council, which had to cut £80m from its budget in the current financial year, is looking to make further savings of around £57m next year and more than £40m in 2013/14.

By 2015/16, the authority’s budget will have been reduced by up to £170m.

The leaflet asks for people’s ideas on how the council can make “significant savings” while continuing to provide the services people want.

Giving examples as to the scale of the cuts, the leaflet points out that Sheffield’s galleries, museums and leisure centres together cost £33m each year to run; running parks costs around £7m and a typical secondary school has an annual budget of £6m.

Coun Dore said: “We’re facing the toughest times in probably a generation.

“Sheffielders are known for their pragmatic approach to dealing with difficult problems.

“It is that honest, no-nonsense thinking that makes Sheffield a great place and that is why I have written to local people to ask for their ideas and outline what we are facing financially.

“Looking out for each other and that sense of community and neighbourliness is something special about the city and I would want to tap into that spirit and ask Sheffielders to pull together with us.”

The four-sided leaflet says that the council will be receiving £23m less from the Government in the next financial year, while the cost of goods and services rises at the same time.

A spokesman for Sheffield Council said that the letter sent out to households is an “important step in the budget planning” and “provides background information to help people to understand the scale of the financial challenges the Council is facing.”

More than £10m is also being put aside by the council to pay for redundancies next year. It was previously revealed that up to 690 jobs are set to be cut, out of the council’s workforce of 7,160 full time staff.

Around 800 redundancies have already been made as part of the council’s current budget, though it is hoped that the vast majority of these jobs can be lost through voluntary redundancy, early retirement and the non-filling of vacancies.

Announcing the possible 690 redundancies last month, deputy council leader Coun Bryan Lodge admitted that the authority would be forced to cut “deeper and further.”

He added: “I would like to stress that this is an estimated figure and towards the upper end of our estimation.

“We are not yet in a position to confirm a definite number, as this is obviously dependent on the decisions made by councillors around the budget options.

“However this is likely to represent the worst-case scenario and we will of course do whatever we can to reduce that number.

“The council wants to hold constructive talks with the trade unions going forward.”

Unite union regional officer Doug Patterson has previously placed the blame for the redundancies on the coalition Government rather than Sheffield Council’s ruling Labour group.

He said: “These job losses could be avoided if the Government reversed its continuing and failing policies on public expenditure – and adopted a U-turn in its current harsh policies to local government.

The leaflet, which has cost around 9p per household to produce, has a feedback slip to return.

All responses will be fed through to councillors ahead of the budget decisions which will be made in March. The deadline for responses is January 6 2012. People can also respond online.