‘Think out of box’ call as council looks for £109m cuts

Doncaster Council is today outlining how it plans to save £109m from its budget by 2017 – after already saving £93m since 2010 –and issuing a call to the public to come forward with ideas on how to meet the spending challenge.

A wide variety of options are on the table, including closing 70 per cent of the council’s buildings with their possible sale or a hand over to community groups.

The closure of eight remaining council-run homes for the elderly is also being considered. Three or more day centres are under threat, leisure centres may close and the council is warning an unidentified number of jobs will go.

The town’s Labour elected mayor, Ros Jones, said: “There are no two ways about it – many councils in the north face some of the toughest financial challenges ever and Doncaster is no exception.

“We need to consider how we can balance the books set against delivering vital services that offer value for money. Our gap is made up of not just the grant cuts, but also inflation, rising prices and more people wanting our services.

“Now is the time for us and our partners and with the help of our communities to think outside the box and be innovative and enterprising in not only how we close down this budget gap but how we can reshape our services.

“What is clear is that it is unlikely that any council service can 
stay the same, things have to change.

“The stark reality is that everything is up for discussion and we will now start that discussion with Doncaster people, communities, our partners and stakeholders. Now is the time to work together.”

The council said that previous cuts meant that more than £305 per man, woman and child has been saved from its budget over the past three years.

Of the further £109m required by 2017, £38m will need to be cut next year – which equates to a further £358 per resident.

The budget proposals are outlined in a publication called Doncaster 2017 – A Council Looking to the Future.

The local authority hopes voluntary, community and faith groups will offer ideas on innovative ways to deliver services.

Council chief executive Jo Miller said: “We know this news of more council cuts is not what our residents want to hear but we need to be clear about the challenges we are facing.

“There is no way to sugar the pill – future cuts will be felt deeper and harder than before.

“Our challenge is to reshape ourselves to be a different council ensuring the delivery of services that are vital to our borough and people within the much reduced budget that we now have.

“Inevitably, some services will be reduced or stopped, many will be done differently and some will be delivered by others where they are better placed to do so. The shape of local government has to change otherwise we are in danger of collapse under the financial strain. Staying as we are is not possible.”

The budget proposals can be viewed at www.doncaster.gov.uk/budget where people can also comment. The council is due to set its 2014-15 budget on February 20 next year.