Derbyshire Times news bulletin 7th November

Derbyshire Times

Derbyshire Times news bulletin with editor Phil Bramley

Transcript

00:00 Here's today's Derbyshire Times video bulletin.

00:02 Chesterfield Council Chiefs have put out tough saving proposals

00:06 to combat a forecasted multi-million pound budget shortfall and significant funding gaps.

00:11 Labour-controlled Chesterfield Borough Council has stated it is facing serious gaps in its budget,

00:16 like many other local authorities nationwide, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,

00:21 the cost of living crisis and high inflation rates, but it has stressed that it aims to

00:26 protect essential services and continue supporting the most vulnerable. Deputy Leader Councillor

00:32 Amanda Sargent has previously stated that the council will consequently have to reduce its

00:36 workforce by looking at voluntary redundancies and voluntary retirement options while avoiding

00:41 the need for compulsory redundancies, but this may also mean stopping the delivery of some services

00:46 and possibly reducing others. The council has now put forward a plan to review how tourist

00:52 information services are delivered, including the use of the Visitor Information Centre in Ricknell

00:56 Square, how some council community buildings are used, namely Haslam Village Hall, the Assembly

01:02 Rooms and the Revolution House, the levels of funding provided to a range of external organisations,

01:08 including community and voluntary groups, and subsidies applied to the running of outdoor

01:12 sports and leisure centres, and how council venues, including the Winding Wheel Theatre,

01:17 the Healthy Living Centre and Queen's Park Sports Centre, are managed to ensure commercial

01:21 opportunities and income is maximised. The council events programme is also to be looked at to make

01:27 sure events are effectively supporting the town centre and that parks are providing value for

01:31 money, and the council is also seeking further approvals to develop detailed plans for the

01:37 possible introduction of charging for the collection of garden waste and a review of

01:40 how the residents town centre car parking scheme currently runs. Like so many local authorities

01:46 across the country, this council is facing extreme pressures on its budgets due to a variety of

01:51 factors outside of our control. Not only are we feeling the impact of exceptionally high inflation

01:57 rates, but the cost of living crisis means that people need our services now more than ever.

02:02 But the income we receive from things like our venues is falling and we're still bearing the

02:08 long-term financial impacts of the pandemic. This is compounded by piecemeal government

02:14 underfunding of the public sector, which has seen the amount of money that we receive from

02:19 government more than half since 2010 in real terms. So whilst this isn't a financial crisis

02:26 of our making, we must respond to it nonetheless and do so in a responsible and sustainable way.

02:32 There's still much uncertainty but some things are clear. Councils can't do what they've always done.

02:40 We've already made significant savings over the last 18 months, but much more is needed to address

02:47 budget gaps that stretch into the millions. Some services will need to stop or be delivered by

02:54 other agencies. Many will have to be delivered differently. This means some difficult choices

03:01 and really hard decisions about where under pressure council budgets need to be spent in

03:07 the future. The council's cabinet is due to consider some of those difficult choices

03:14 and a series of savings proposals have been put forward to help bridge this gap. From potentially

03:20 introducing new charges for some of our services such as green waste collection,

03:25 to reviewing the future of some of our buildings, to thinking about the funding we provide to some

03:31 external bodies. We need to make some hard choices. Many of these proposals will need further

03:39 development as well as conversations with our communities before any final decision can be made.

03:45 We will continue to be open and honest about the things that may need to change

03:52 and there will be different opportunities for you to give us your views and help shape the future of

03:59 our services. But at the heart of all of these difficult choices will be our commitment to

04:06 continue to put our communities first, doing all we can to protect the essential services

04:12 that local people rely on.

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Transcript

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