Job losses, moving disabled people from homes to supported living and increasing transport costs form part of £62m in cuts planned by Nottinghamshire County Council.
The authority has announced it must drastically reduce its budget again over the next three years, having already slashed tens of millions of pounds from its spending since 2007.
Councillors say more changes are needed because the council’s income is still shrinking while costs are still rising.
Among the changes are 58 new proposals, including the loss of 182 jobs – although 75 of them are already vacant.
To come up with the proposals, members of all groups on the council worked to agree a plan backed by Conservatives and Labour politicians alike.
It is the first time in the council’s history there has been what is known as ‘cross party budget’.
Some service reductions are unavoidable
Council leader Alan Rhodes said: “Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures and for the first time, councillors from different political groups have put our differences aside to work together on this year’s proposals.
“Although decisions have remained extremely tough, working together for the good of the authority at this difficult time has been of benefit.
Urgent savings: Some of the key cuts on the table
- Increasing the transport charge for adult social care services from £7 per day to £8 per day in 2016/17 and £9 per day in 2017/18
- 182.21 full-time council posts potentially at risk of redundancy, 75.32 of which are already vacant
- Recruiting ‘Shared Lives Carers’ who provide care in their own homes for people with social care needs – replacing residential care home places
“We are once again proposing to increase our use of new technology and develop other creative, innovative options for the way we deliver services in the future to reduce the impact of savings on our services.
“However, the sustained financial pressures on the Council means that some service reductions are unavoidable, which I deeply regret.”
Increases in demand for social care for both old and young people are driving much of the pressure on council budgets.
However, the authority still hopes to push on with several big building projects, including road improvements and school expansions.
Still on track: Council investment projects which are going ahead
- £18.8m to create new school places and £9.7m on refurbishing school buildings
- £13.6m on major road maintenance and renewal scheme
- £11.7m on Living at Home schemes to help older people live independently in their own homes for longer
- £7.5m on Hucknall Town centre improvements
- £4.1m towards a new Visitor Centre at Sherwood Forest
- £2.8m towards the on-going roll-out of superfast broadband across the county
The Council’s Policy Committee will meet on Wednesday, December 9 to discuss the plans. Subject to their agreement, a public consultation will start the same day and run until February 5.
