By Tash Shifrin
9 October 2009
Plans by Doncaster’s controversial elected mayor to cut council tax by 3% on top of budget cuts of 15% over three years could tip services ‘over the edge’, unions have warned.
Mayor Peter Davies, elected in June for the English Democrats party, has also come under fire from councillors. They have threatened to call in the communities secretary unless he clarifies his policies and pledges to support all sections of the community.
Davies’ desire to reduce council tax by 3% was described as ‘an aspiration’ by a council spokeswoman.
But an e-mail to staff from the council’s acting head of services finance, Faye Tyas, seen by Public Finance, said ‘significant cost reductions/efficiency proposals’ would be needed to achieve a break-even budget against a backdrop of future tight settlements.
‘Services have been requested to identify cost reductions of 5% for each of the next three years (15% overall),’ the e-mail said.
Unison regional officer Robin Symonds said: ‘He wants to cut council tax by 3%. On top of the savings they’ve got to make, we think it will tip services over the edge.’
Symonds highlighted children’s services, where Schools Secretary Ed Balls sent in a management team in March after finding serious failings in child protection.
‘Given the difficulties that have been ongoing in children’s services, you’d think if there were budget cuts there would be some areas that would be protected,’ Symonds said.
But council chief executive Paul Hart countered: ‘Members have made it clear that they do not want to see cuts across the board. As part of our budget planning process we are looking at where we can make savings and where we can invest according to members' priorities.’
In a statement, Davies said Unison was ‘scaremongering’, adding: ‘It is out of order for Unison to pick out certain categories of staff at this stage.’
Neither Davies nor his Cabinet members attended an extraordinary council meeting on October 1, where members voted to dissociate themselves from his ‘sometimes outrageous, inflammatory and insulting remarks’.
The move came after Davies told newspapers that the Taliban had ‘an ordered system of family life’. He has also pledged to cut funding for translation services and Doncaster’s Gay Pride event.
9 October 2009
Plans by Doncaster’s controversial elected mayor to cut council tax by 3% on top of budget cuts of 15% over three years could tip services ‘over the edge’, unions have warned.
Mayor Peter Davies, elected in June for the English Democrats party, has also come under fire from councillors. They have threatened to call in the communities secretary unless he clarifies his policies and pledges to support all sections of the community.
Davies’ desire to reduce council tax by 3% was described as ‘an aspiration’ by a council spokeswoman.
But an e-mail to staff from the council’s acting head of services finance, Faye Tyas, seen by Public Finance, said ‘significant cost reductions/efficiency proposals’ would be needed to achieve a break-even budget against a backdrop of future tight settlements.
‘Services have been requested to identify cost reductions of 5% for each of the next three years (15% overall),’ the e-mail said.
Unison regional officer Robin Symonds said: ‘He wants to cut council tax by 3%. On top of the savings they’ve got to make, we think it will tip services over the edge.’
Symonds highlighted children’s services, where Schools Secretary Ed Balls sent in a management team in March after finding serious failings in child protection.
‘Given the difficulties that have been ongoing in children’s services, you’d think if there were budget cuts there would be some areas that would be protected,’ Symonds said.
But council chief executive Paul Hart countered: ‘Members have made it clear that they do not want to see cuts across the board. As part of our budget planning process we are looking at where we can make savings and where we can invest according to members' priorities.’
In a statement, Davies said Unison was ‘scaremongering’, adding: ‘It is out of order for Unison to pick out certain categories of staff at this stage.’
Neither Davies nor his Cabinet members attended an extraordinary council meeting on October 1, where members voted to dissociate themselves from his ‘sometimes outrageous, inflammatory and insulting remarks’.
The move came after Davies told newspapers that the Taliban had ‘an ordered system of family life’. He has also pledged to cut funding for translation services and Doncaster’s Gay Pride event.
