JOBS at Thurrock Council are to be lost, a library closed to the public, playgrounds shut down and cash grants slashed to community groups in an emergency budget to go before councillors later this month.
The authority says it needs to cut £4million from its operating budget this year, with cuts of up to £16m to follow in successive years.
A statement from the Council, whose members will debate the new budge at their meeting on Wednesday, 28 July, said: “For this financial year, Thurrock Council had already achieved efficiency savings and other reductions of £9 million.
“In anticipation of cuts in public expenditure, the authority has also identified a need to reduce its spending by at least £35 million before April 2014 — that includes around £15 million in 2011/12.
“But the Chancellor’s announcement now means that further spending reductions of at least £4 million are required in Thurrock to be achieved within the current financial year — that is, before April 2011.
“This figure could rise as further details are released by the Government.
“The total effect is that Thurrock Council has suddenly had a substantial amount of Government grant funding taken away — with a quarter of the financial year already gone!
“This was money the council had already planned to spend this year and upon which a wide range of key services, some in partnership with the voluntary sector, were relying upon for the next eight months.
“Details are emerging from Whitehall and we are still analysing the figures sent to us so far. But, from the data we currently hold, it is clear a substantial proportion of the £4 million mentioned above will have to be taken from budgets that support delivery of services for Thurrock’s children and young people.
“Some jobs are expected to be at risk and discussions are taking place with trade union representatives and staff who may be affected.
“Thurrock’s integrated transport capital allocation has been cut by £520,000 and £74,000 of specific road safety capital allocation has been withdrawn. This means that Thurrock’s programme of traffic calming measures, pedestrian facilities, and other road-safety schemes, will have to be cut back.
“Thurrock works closely with other public bodies and they too face having to make similar cuts in spending. That will have a further impact both on Thurrock’s residents and the services the council provide.
“The council’s overriding priority is to protect frontline services and, as outlined above, it has taken, and will continue to take, robust action to reduce overheads and back-office costs.
“But the scale of the reductions required by the Chancellor, and the speed at which they must be made, inevitably places additional risk on the services we provide or commission from others.
“In some cases, reductions in services would have been made in April 2011 as we knew that grant funding for some projects would end. However, the latest developments mean service cutbacks now have to take place earlier.
“In planning for the future, and in anticipating further substantial cuts to public service spending, Thurrock Council is keen to plan carefully and work hard to adapt in order to minimise the negative impact upon essential services.
“This will involve continuing efforts to cut costs, avoid waste and duplication, maximise income and consider and develop new ways of delivering good services at the lowest possible cost.”
In the detail of the cuts, Chafford Hundred Library has been identified as the least used by the public in the borough and it will be closed, though will remain as a school library.
This has prompted an immediate protest from the four Conservative Chafford councillors, Garry Hague, Neil Rockliffe, Tunde Ojetola and Steve Veryard who, in a joint statement, said: “Many residents have contacted us about the proposed withdrawal of Council funding of Chafford Hundred Library.
“We are aware that the Council has to review all aspects of the budget, but we are quite concerned about the proposal to withdraw the £60,000 funding from Chafford Hundred Library.
“Due to its unique nature, it is jointly funded by the Schools and the Council. If the Council withdraw the £60,000 spent on the Library every year, both Campus and Chafford Primary may not be able to maintain it and therefore its future could be at risk.
“We all agree that the Council has to reconsider its budget, but we are asking the Council to review this proposal so that the library can remain open.”
Other cuts planning include saving more than a £1m by not renewing street lighting, more than £250,000 by withdrawing from the Road Safety Community partnership, which will mean speed cameras are not maintained and the mobile speed camera service is likely to cease in the borough, £10,000 by stopping locking eight parks and cemeteries, reducing community forum funding by £47,500 immediately (with an ongoing review to follow) and £75,000 reducing street cleaning.
No figure has been given for lost jobs, many of which will happen by not replacing vacant positions, but the Council has conceded that it may have to consider redundancies.