Council hit by further funding cut

WORCESTER City Council has been landed with a £250,000 funding black-hole after the Government revealed a further cut in its funding.

Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles MP confirmed the amount of cash to be handed out to local councils in the House of Commons before Christmas.

City council chiefs said the handout it is set to receive next year was in line with their expectations and they would press ahead with the planned programme of 26 redundancies and a review of the services it provides.

But the funding for 2014/15 is five per cent lower than the council expected and will result in a funding gap of £250,000, meaning more savings will need to be made.

Coun Andy Roberts, cabinet member for delivering value for money, said: “The funding from 2014/15 will be a lot more difficult to manage with the bigger reduction.

“This is not a settlement though, this is an idea of the expected figure we will receive. We can still make representations to the Government.

“We do get additional money from the Government which allows us to freeze the Council Tax and the New Homes Bonus. We look to protect this money so that we can use it for major projects to improve Worcester as a whole.”

“Next year we will not need that money to balance the books but because of this huge reduction the year after I cannot be certain we will not need the Council Tax grant and New Homes Bonus to balance the books.”

The Department of Communities and Local Government released a list of 50 ways councils could save money along with the funding figures, which include sharing back office functions, reducing senior management posts and pay and cutting down on waste.

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