There are just 24 hours remaining to have a say on a raft of proposals put forward to save Liverpool Council millions of pounds as it tries to set a “horrific” annual budget.
In November, the local authority published its proposals to put itself on a stable financial footing. As a result, £73m of savings have been identified.
Among the options it faces are a potential hike in council tax, increasing fees and charges as well as a review of its libraries and fitness centres. The spending cuts facing Liverpool Council take it past half a billion pounds lost in funding since 2010.
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This year’s financial shortfall is almost double the £37m the local authority faced last year which led to the introduction of the controversial £40 green bin charge. A public consultation on the plans launched before Christmas will close tomorrow, Friday January 6.
When the proposals were revealed, Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson described the situation as “horrific” and admitted efficiencies would be needed as the council was “running out of road”.
She said: “We’re trying to transform services, make efficiencies where we can so for example not allowing cash payments will save us some money, and we’ll try and work with partners to make sure the service is still available, just not necessarily by us or in the same way.”
Among the options put forward is removing the budget that supports the city’s overall Christmas programme and working with partners to replace the activity. Of that, £80,000 would be generated by scrapping Christmas lighting installations in the city centre provided by the local authority.
Jobs could also be lost at the local authority with Cllr Barry Kushner, chair of the council’s finance committee, telling a meeting of the organisation there had been “worry and concern” over potential compulsory redundancies for authority staff since budget papers were published. In response, cabinet member, Cllr Frazer Lake, said the council has a legislative duty to mitigate redundancies and "the political will is there” to protect jobs.
He said talks are ongoing with trade unions and staff, particularly around redeployment opportunities, adding "every effort will be made. Parking income could raise more than £2m for Liverpool this year, while increased matchday parking enforcement will “provide improved resident experience whilst generating revenue.”
Cllr Liam Robinson, Liverpool Council cabinet member for finance, said: “We are going to have to make some extremely difficult decisions to deliver a legal and balanced budget, and it is vital we hear what people think about what is being proposed. We are encouraging people to fill in our survey, either online, or at one of our council buildings, so they can let us know what they think.
“We are determined to make the council fit for purpose, give it a sustainable future and deliver better services and focus on what matters most to residents.” Further savings on the table include a proposal to review the scope of the Liverpool Citizens Support Scheme (LCSS) and introduce a repair or replace element for domestic appliances, remove furniture packages for tenants of registered providers and remove home starter packs that could save £1.1m.
A separate consultation on those is running until January 27. The local authority has warned that should none of the options be taken forward, savings somewhere else and this may result in some other services being stopped or reduced.
The results of the public engagement exercise will be considered before a report is sent to the budget council in March. Any proposed changes would take effect from April 1.
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