We have today published alternative budget proposals to the Labour-run council. We hope that they will adopt these on Wednesday and help to improve our county.
IN SHORT: More money for roads and footpaths, citizens advice, bus services, extra staff in council call centre, more money to help with careers advice in schools, program to support new business startups and extra funding for local regeneration projects in villages.
PAID FOR BY: Cutting Council Publicity magazine County News. Cutting chairman and vice-chairman’s clothing allowances, cutting union subsidies, reducing mileage allowances for senior staff and councillors, bringing forward money from next years budget not currently allocated to anything, and reducing the amount Labour plan to add to the already huge £21m reserves.
And the longer version:
1. Highways Maintenance (Capital) – In order to make inroads into the capital highways maintenance backlog, the Council should invest an extra £1.3 million in 2013-14. to help to improve the roads and footpaths which are falling to bits.
Additional cost to the capital programme = £1.3 million in 2013-14
Funded by achieving savings of £130,000 a year to fund the prudential borrowing, by withdrawing all subsidy payments to trade unions together with the imposition of a 2.5% service charge for the collection of union subscriptions through the payroll system
2 Improving Customer Service in the Contact Centre
In order to provide a ‘fit for purpose’ telephone service to our customers by increasing opening times and reducing waiting times, an additional 8 customer service operatives be recruited to the Customer Services Team.
Additional cost = £150,000
Funded by stopping publishing the County Durham News. Annual saving = £150,000.
3. Increase the funding to Citizen Advice Bureau by £50,000
Funded by withdrawing the clothing allowance for the Chairman and Vice Chairman and reducing the amount of remuneration for ‘special responsibility allowances’ to councillors.
4. Invest a further £300,000 a year into the public transport subsidy budget to improve bus routes and the frequency of buses for the public
Funded by reducing casual car mileage rates for employees and councillors to 45 pence a mile.
5. Introduce a 3 year pilot programme at a cost of £250,000 a year to improve career opportunities for young people. The service would be provided by the Regeneration and Economic Development Service in schools and would support the new role of secondary schools as being the sole support for providing careers advice to young people.
The £750,000 cost over the 3 years to be funded from general reserves.
6 Introduce a 3 year pilot programme at a cost of £1 million a year in order to support employment and business development. The service would be provided by the Regeneration and Economic Development Service and would provide support and advice to new business start-ups on the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI) model.
The £3 million cost over the 3 years to be funded from general reserves.
7. Add £1,5000,000 of expenditure to the 2013/14 capital programme to fund up to 20 new minor schemes using the criteria along the lines of the former ‘Urban and Rural Renaissance Initiative’ programme.
To be funded from the as yet uncommitted £10,500,000 capital budget in 2014/15 which could be brought forward into 2013/14 with the subsequent revenue cost to fund the borrowing be met from the 2013/14 revenue contingency budget.