Swindon Borough Council plans to cut up to 90 jobs to save £1.5m in its proposed budget for 2017/18 to be put before cabinet on February 8.
And council tax is set to rise by 4.99 per cent – meaning that the average bill will rise by £59.47 per year – excluding extra costs levied by parish councils.
The increase comprises 1.99 percent for the basic amount of council tax and a specific adult social care precept of 3 percent.
Speaking about the proposed job cuts, Cabinet Member for Finance, Russell Holland, said: “We are hoping that a significant proportion of those posts will be lost through a process of voluntary redundancy. We are not in a position to say which departments are being affected at the moment.”
He explained that a total of 80 to 90 posts will be lost from a current council staffing level of 2,900. This will be in addition to the recent announcement of the loss of approximately 40 full and part time posts from the library service following the cutting of funding to 10 of the town’s 15 facilities.
Mr Holland added that, if the budget is formally approved next week, the process of reducing ‘headcount’ would begin as soon as possible in order to maximise savings.
Continued demand pressures on adult social care combined with increased costs of waste and recycling, lower than expected parking income and increased demand on the councils homelessness budget has contributed to a predicted overspend of £6.5m.
Council leader David Renard explained that the council is looking carefully at where savings on adult social care can be made and has made use of consultants and worked with other local authorities to help guide them in this process.
“A lot of work is being done on identifying where early intervention can be made to improve the long term outcomes for patients and reduce the need for support. We are also working with other organisations to look at how social workers do their jobs.
“We are keen to re-enable people to get back on their feet and be able to lead more independent lives.”
He explained that the predicted overspend in this sector was partly a result of demographic change: “More people are living longer with more complex health needs.”
He added that further cost increases have been brought about by having to comply with tighter regulations on care homes and the introduction of the National Minimum Wage, which has meant an increase in the wage bill for the large number of low pay workers who work in the sector.
The budget will go before cabinet on Wednesday 8 February.
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