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Committee agrees community service changes to achieve savings

This news article was published more than a year ago. Some of the information may no longer be accurate.

Published: 28/01/2015

Communities Committee at its meeting on 27 January has considered recommendations for changes to a number of the council’s community services. The changes form part of the council’s six-year savings programme which aims to save £40m annually by 2020 in response to ongoing national austerity measures.

For each service, a range of options to deliver the target savings were considered and members of the public and other organisations were invited to comment before final recommendations were prepared.

Members agreed to:

  • Negotiate a substantial reduction to the WE Care and Repair contract in order to achieve £168,000 savings within the Private Sector Housing service. The committee was reassured that mandatory Disabled Facility Grant adaptation would be provided by the council’s in-house team and that the council’s Handy Van service can continue to provide ad hoc support to residents.
  • Provide support at a cost of £45,500 to Priority Neighbourhoods and £43,750 for Safer Stronger Groups and £2,000 for the Town and Parish Councils Forum. Coordination of Community Speedwatch will be carried out by the police. Support for Community Led Planning is being funded through a council grant. These changes achieve the Community Engagement service savings target of £200,000.
  • Achieve a saving in Environmental Health of £221,000 by reducing statutory services to a minimum. The committee was able to ensure the council continues to provide pest control services and to take action against enviro-crime.

As part of the budget proposals, the council is seeking to delay any reduction in its funding of community safety work.

Full details of the options considered by committee members are set out in individual reports available from http://council.southglos.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=408&MId=6819

Further savings programme projects will be considered by Communities and other council committees in the coming years. For further information about the programme, see www.southglos.gov.uk/csp

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