26 July 2002
The £2.8m worth of measures include scrapping one of Europe's largest free festivals and raising the price of school meals. A report outlining the cuts was approved by the Conservative Cabinet in front of a packed public gallery on July 23.
The Window on the World festival began life as the modest North Shields Fish Quay Festival in 1987. It attracted 350,000 revellers over the Golden Jubilee weekend in June.
Mayor Chris Morgan has announced that it will be scrapped as part of his drive to stave off a potential budget deficit of £7.5m this year. The council has already identified £2.1m in savings. It spends £330,000 on the festival.
A council spokesman told Public Finance: 'The mayor looked at it and said: "I'm sure it's a lovely festival but do we really need to go down that route when we're broke? Answer: no".'
Morgan's proposals include raising the cost of school meals from £1.20 to £1.40 and ending grants totalling £75,000 to two centres which provide education courses for adult students.
Morgan, who was elected in May, stressed that the council had a legal responsibility to deliver a balanced budget. He said: 'Cabinet is being advised to make tough decisions in order to keep the council within the law. It is sadly inevitable that tough decisions must be made to meet the £7.5m potential deficit.'
Cllr Michael Huscroft, leader of the council's Liberal Democrats, said: 'The mayor should be challenging the government for more money.'
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