THOSE responsible for restructuring Tameside Council’s budget have been warned to not cut too much by their colleagues.
Of particular concern to the authority’s place and external relations scrutiny panel is the £4 million it wants to trim from children’s services.
The authority has drawn up what it wants to spend over the next financial year, including a near three per cent rise in council tax.
But in a letter to Councillor Oliver Ryan, executive member for finance and economic growth, and director of finance Kathy Roe, Cllrs Mike Glover and Teresa Smith have outlined their concerns.
They admit, however: “Business as usual, without radical change, is clearly not a financially sustainable option for Tameside, with future budget gaps painting a bleak picture.”
Their concerns over the spend on children’s services did raise worries – and a proposed ‘saving’ – did lead to a further warning.
Cllrs Glover and Smith added: “With a decision to provide children’s services with a fully costed budget for the year ahead, to the extent of an additional £5 million, members are somewhat unsettled by the addition of a new £4 million savings target applied for 2022/23.
“While it is expected for demand to no longer grow exponentially, members are concerned that this is an extremely ambitious target and questioned whether past learning can be applied from examples where savings have needed to be re-profiled over a longer timeframe.
“With added financial challenges also likely to be forthcoming in the provision of adult social care, discussion touched upon a range of options and known solutions, across adults’ and children’s services regarding local accommodation and in-house care.”
Cllrs Glover and Smith did concede they were pleased to hear of a commitment to achieve a balanced budget without the use of reserves.
However, they queried why the amount Tameside collects in council tax is low in comparison to other Greater Manchester authorities based on housing stock and when taking account of proportionate local need.
Creation of a new ‘transformation team’ was welcomed as it will make reviewing ways services are delivered and identifying areas spending can be cut easier.
However, they continued in the letter which was presented at the panel’s meeting on March 8: “This cannot happen in isolation, with the team adding to existing methods and practice already in place.
“Upon reflection and based on the information presented, it is thought that the reference made to the role and responsibilities of the transformation programme could be made clearer to members and across the authority.
“If understood correctly, the success of future savings does not sit as a direct responsibility of the Transformation Team to deliver, but more in the ability of the authority to provide a wider range of internal support mechanisms that are able to consider the impact of individual service decisions, both on outcomes for residents and budgets.”