1:58pm Monday 8th February 2010
By Oliver Evans
COUNCIL bosses today agreed not to slash the pothole budget in half after an outcry from residents.
Buckinghamshire County Council’s cabinet said £678,000 should not be taken from the popular ‘We’re Working On It’ programme as planned.
The county’s roads were littered with more potholes after last month’s prolonged snow and ice. The county pumped in £2m as an immediate measure.
The decision was taken ‘in light of the current state of the county’s road surfaces’ and cuts to funding in recent years, a council report says.
It says the move is possible because more homes will be charged council tax, netting the council an extra £1.4m.
The move comes as the council announced a pay freeze for staff (see link, bottom of story).
Councillor Peter Hardy, who led a watchdog probe which urged against the cut, said: "We are very pleased. Public concern on roads had increased dramatically.
"The question will be 'will that be enough?'"
Waste chiefs will also keep a threatened £681,000 because of ‘increased uncertainty’ over the cost of an incinerator, set to be built in Bedfordshire.
It means the council will be asked to confirm a two per cent increase in its share of the council tax, about two thirds of the final bill.
This will take its share to £1,077.74, an extra £21.13 on this year.
Conservative council leader, Councillor David Shakespeare, today said this would be 2.5 per cent the following two years – but zero under a Tory Government.
Yet a raft of job losses and service reductions will go ahead including cuts to library opening hours, youth workers and rights of way maintenance (see link, bottom of story).
Already, 71 posts have been lost as part of a £21.4m savings programme. More than half were through not filling empty posts, the report says.
So far, bosses have identified 31 more who will be made redundant. About 200 jobs will go in the next two years.
A major pressure facing the council is looked after children, with councils expected to do more in light of the Baby P scandal.
This could see the council overspend by £2.2m and £100,000 will be taken from Sure Start children’s centres, for the county’s poorest youngsters, to help fund care.
Bosses also warn a Government pledge to give free personal care to the most vulnerable OAPs living at home will put a £1.7m dent in the budget.
The council says it will lose an estimated £1.7m savings it hoped to find from sharing services with other councils.
This 'Pathfinder' plan was scrapped last month amid controversy after it emerged the councils had spent £1.2m setting it up (see link, bottom of story).
The budget will need to be approved by the Conservative-controlled authority next month.
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