LIVERPOOL City Council is set to freeze Council Tax, keep school uniform grants and scrap proposed cuts in funding for the homeless service, in a raft of budget U-turns.
The cabinet will this Friday (2 March) be asked to agree the remaining savings needed to close the £50 million budget gap.
However, around £1.7 million of savings options previously approved will now not be taken.
The cash, according to the council, will be found through savings on rent on the controversial 08 Place and by not holding a referendum on an elected mayor.
08 Place: CostlyMore money will be clawed back by making changes in procurement procedures – how much is paid out on goods and services - and securing improved interest on cash flow.
The vast majority of council tax payers who live in Band A properties (around 60 percent) will continue to pay £872.09 a year.
School uniform grants will be retained (£20 primary/£40 secondary).
Household goods removal service Bulky Bob’s will remain free of charge
There will be no cut in funding in the budget for mental health accommodation
There will be no reduction in funding for substance misuse and homeless service.
The council says it has protected the most essential front line services and they only account for around 20 percent of the savings, even though they make up 72 percent of city spending.
Reprive: School uniform grants It follows, according to Deputy Council Leader Paul Brant, “an open, mature conversation with residents, staff and business leading to more informed decision making”.
The council was paying £20,000 to rent the Whitechapel building where the now-closed tourist information centre, the 08 Place, was located. The building also housed music promoter CMP, organiser of the Summer Pops.
The city managed to get out of the 10-year lease two years early – but had to stump up £500,000 to do so. Keeping the lease would have seen it having to find £1m of public money until 2014.
Council Leader Joe Anderson described the budget as “the most open ever”, adding: “We have been working right up to the 11th hour to make sure the remainder of the budget cuts do not hit the most vulnerable.”
“We have frozen council tax because I am concerned about the impact any rise will have on people already struggling due to unemployment, pay cuts and the current economic crisis.
“A Council Tax rise would hit people in the pocket and also damages local businesses because they have less money to spend.”
Leader Of Liverpool City
Council Joe AndersonBut the future is still far from rosy and Anderson warned: “Although we have managed to avoid some of the most severe cuts, there is no doubt that in some cases the delivery of council services will be affected. You can’t cut more than £50million of spending and not notice.
He continued: “Reducing paperwork and administration costs means it may take us longer to do things, but I am sure people will agree it is preferable that we protect front-line services to children and the most vulnerable first.”
Around £20 million in spending cuts have come from updating financial planning assumptions and reducing the amount of money set aside for contingencies and liabilities.
'Consolidating'
Other savings already approved include a review of the management and administration of children’s centres, which will see 16 becoming satellite centres, although the core services will remain at all of them.
Other options, previously approved, include “consolidating” the teams that help facilitate and deliver major development projects; introducing charges for advice provided to developers before they submit a planning application and combining the culture and tourism service.
In addition to the £50 million of savings which have been found for 2012-13, the council estimates it will need to find a further £21.6 million in 2013-14 and £39.3 million in 2014-15. A further £45.6 million will have to be found between 2015 and 2017.
The council will be asked to approve the proposals at its budget meeting on Wednesday 7 March.
