Wakefield: Authority looks to private sector for salvation

CUTS to Wakefield Council's budget will result in job losses and the axing of some non-essential services, but the authority's chief executive believes the city is one of the best placed in the region to recover.

So far this year, the council has already seen its government funding slashed by more than 7m – affecting children's play schemes and community and voluntary sector work.

A further 70m has been lost after the Building Schools for the Future programme was shelved, and major cuts of at least 25 per cent are planned.

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Despite the huge financial losses, chief executive Joanne Roney said the authority can balance the contraction in the public sector by creating the right environment for business and private sector expansion.

"The main question will be if private sector jobs growth can accelerate fast enough to compensate for public sector losses," she said. "We are reasonably confident it can, and as a local authority we are doing everything that we can to create the right conditions for business."

Between 1998 and 2008 private sector growth was 12 per cent – the greatest in the region – and 25 per cent of the employment growth in the Leeds city region was in Wakefield.

The city has two major developments that it is hoped will lead their recovery, Trinity Walk and Merchant Gate.

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Trinity Walk is a major 180m shopping centre in the city centre. It has created more than 300 construction jobs and should be completed next year.

Merchant Gate is a 140m new urban quarter between Westgate railway station and the city centre that includes homes, office and retail space.

Ms Roney said; "Wakefield is one of the top eight districts nationally for private sector job growth. We would say that we have the ideal location, particularly our proximity to motorway hubs.

Ms Roney admitted that the funding cuts would result in job losses and some services being axed, but believed the most crucial services could be maintained.

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She said: "In the climate we find ourselves, there will inevitably be reductions in staffing which will affect services to the public.

"This might mean that some services will no longer be delivered, others could be delivered outside the council – for example, by community groups or trusts; or through shared services with partners".