Council to downsize due to budget pressures
A council will have to become a smaller organisation and change the way it delivers services by the end of the decade as it tries to save £6.4 million by the end of this financial year and £70 million by 2020.
Powys County Council leader Barry Thomas told a consultation event in Welshpool yesterday that the authority will have to reduce the number of buildings it has and make redundancies.
He said: "We need to generate savings of £70m by 2020, a challenging task when you consider our net budget for the current financial year is £242m.
"We have made huge progress in recent years saving £36.35m since April 2012 but much more is needed. We received a 4.6 per cent cut in funding in the last financial year – one of the largest cuts in Wales – meaning we have to find more than £17.5m savings this year.
"Savings of £11.7m have already been achieved but there is another £6.4m to find and that work is already well underway. Budget projections show that the cycle of poor funding and resulting cuts are with us to the end of the decade.
"So what will Powys County Council look like in 2020? It will be a smaller more focussed organisation, it is likely to have a third less staff and operate out far fewer buildings. A more flexible approach to the way we work could see central office space reduce by half.
"Reducing the number of buildings we own is essential to cut running costs and to generate additional income. In future we will share our buildings with others or become tenants in theirs. We expect to reduce the number of depots we operate by half and drastically cut the number of vehicles we operate.
"The council will not necessarily provide all the services that it traditionally has done in the past. Others may provide services including partners, the voluntary sector and communities themselves.
"All this will have an impact on service users, the public and of course staff, a smaller organisation means a smaller workforce. The changes will not happen overnight. We will take a measured approach assessing the impact on service delivery and our staff who are our most important asset in effective service delivery."
Councillor Thomas added: "This year we reduced our workforce by 500 through a combination of voluntary redundancies, retirement and natural wastage. Regrettably in a number of cases compulsory redundancies were necessary. We do not underestimate the impact of reducing our workforce on the individuals concerned and their families. They are a loss to us all and together have given years of valued service to our communities.
"We have tried where possible to avoid compulsory redundancies and will continue with that approach in the future. This is not an easy process but we are committed to living within our means whilst making the organisation stronger and leaner, with sustainable and fulfilling roles for staff in the future.
"In the future the way we work may change but our commitment to put services at the heart of everything we do will not.
"We are determined to maintain strong communities in the green heart of Wales and that is only possible by working closely with those communities," he added.
