Blackpool Council unveils budget savings of £8.6m

Blackpool Council is set to cut £8.6m from its budget in the coming financial year with council tax bills expected to go up by five per cent.

The savings – which are mainly in adult social care and Children’s Services – are proposed despite the council receiving an extra £17.7m in central government funding.

But town hall bosses say key services including libraries, leisure centres, street cleansing and bin collections are protected and no jobs will be lost.

Council leader Coun Lynn Williams said the extra government funding was a lifeline without which, potential cuts would have been much worse.

She said: “For the first time, in a long time, we have received a local government settlement that is fair and begins to tackle some of the pressures we are facing.

“Our spending power will increase by £17.7m (9 per cent). This is the lifeline we desperately need to face rising demand in adult and children’s social care, inflation rises and the potential impact of National Insurance increases.”

She added: “I dread to think what non-statutory services we would have had to cut if we had not received this settlement. That said, we are still in a position that we need save to £8.6m in the upcoming financial year.”

It is proposed to return money into reserves which will be topped back up to £7.1m at the start of the next financial year after dwindling to just £33,000. This is possible because the council has collected more revenue than expected during the current financial year, and not been hit as badly as feared by factors such as rising interest rates.

The main areas of savings include £3.7m from adult services where a review of home care has found care packages can be reduced for clients able to use alternative community services designed to encourage independent living.

Nearly £2m will be saved from the Children’s Services budget including due to increased contributions from the NHS for the care of children with complex needs.

Meanwhile a Fairer Funding review by the government into the way local councils are funded is expected to lead to Blackpool getting more money in future years.

Coun Williams said: “We have seen significant increases in both attention and funding from this government to meeting the challenge of statutory services, especially in areas facing significant demographic demand.

“However, this does not address the pressures in full and we hope and expect that more funding will be made available in the fair funding review to address the long-term sustainability of Adult and Children’s Social Care services.

“As always, reducing and cutting services is the very last option that we consider. The proposals ensure that our most vulnerable residents and the services that they rely on are safeguarded.

“Where we have identified any efficiencies in these services it is always done with the caveat that need is prioritised over financial implications.”

She added despite the latest round of cuts the council remained “financially viable” with earmarked reserves also set to rise to £21m.

Proposals this year include:

Increase in shared funding agreements with NHS for children in care with health needs

Increase use of internal foster carers

Income generation through selling services to other authorities and organisations

Implementing outcome of commissioning reviews in Adult Services

Ending some subscriptions to external agencies

Staff will once again be asked to take a minimum of five days unpaid leave.

The budget proposals will go before the council’s executive on Wednesday February 5 at 6pm.