Council Funding Gap: The Scale of the Challenge

I have written before about the financial challenge facing Bedford Borough Council, but as consultation begins on the first set of proposals to modernise Council services and make them more cost-effective, it is worth considering the figures involved in order to really grasp the full scale of that challenge. Bedford Borough Council has to save £36 million over four years in order to balance the books. That's an awful lot of money by any reckoning, but the fact that it represents over a quarter of the Council's current total net budget of £129 million brings the size of the task ahead into even greater focus (the bar chart on the right provides a graphical illustration). There is no escaping this; the Council is legally required to deliver a balanced budget, and cannot make a policy decision not to make all the savings, for example. What we can do, however, is to work with all parties on the Council, with staff and crucially with residents to make sure the savings are made carefully and in the fairest way possible.

That is why the first proposals for consultation have already been agreed, by all groups on the Council. We want to enable a full, open, genuine consultation with those who will be affected by any changes. Further savings will go out to consultation in September, allowing extensive consultation before the final budget is agreed in February.

At a time like this it is crucial, of course, that we do all we can to strip away all unnecessary back office costs in order to make sure we are doing all we can to protect the front line. As I have always said, our focus must always be on making savings at Borough Hall, not out in the community where important services are provided. To this end, I have launched a radical efficiency programme known as 'DECATS,' which involves a thorough review of back office processes and will save taxpayers an estimated £5 million per year. In addition, we are also taking a ruthless approach on spending within the Council, and have scrapped the Council magazine, refreshments for internal meetings, bottled water, free private phone calls for staff and a lot more. It is common sense that spending on such things is unjustifiable while we're having to reduce spending on services.

However, as Finance Portfolio Holder Cllr Michael Headley wrote in a letter to the Times and Citizen this week, even the combined impact of all of these ongoing actions will not come close to closing the £36 million funding gap. We cannot hide from the fact that we difficult decisions will have to be taken over the coming months. We want to involve residents in making sure that the decisions taken are the right ones for our communities.