Conservative Councillors in Bath have pledged to undertake a comprehensive ‘root-and-branch’ review of all the Council’s spending in order to cut out waste and increase efficiency.
The Councillors will hold the thorough review if they are running the Council after this May’s local elections.
Conservatives have said that by undertaking a comprehensive review of the way in which B&NES spends taxpayers’ money, they would be in a stronger position to protect the vital local services that residents rely upon whilst keeping the level of Council Tax down.
As part of their spending review, Conservatives have said they would seek to:
- Streamline the Council’s departmental and management structure to increase efficiency;
- Undertake more collaborative and shared-service arrangements with other authorities and public bodies to save on back-office costs;
- Improve the Council’s procedures for overseeing major capital projects to make them more robust and to avoid a repeat of the project over-runs experienced in recent years;
- Further reduce the Council’s office accommodation costs;
- Consult residents on the possibility of reducing the number of Councillors, as some other Councils have done, to help save tax-payers money.
Conservatives have said that the need for a comprehensive spending review is demonstrated by the fact that, despite undertaking deep cuts to services, the number of Council staff earning more than £50,000 a year has actually increased under the authority’s current Lib Dem leadership, whilst £41 million worth of projects been delayed in the past twelve months.
At the same time, nearly all of the £100 million which B&NES previously held in its account in the form of cash-flow has now been drained, with the Council having to use one-off reserves to plug a £1.5 million hole in this year’s budget.
If they take control of the Council after the election, Conservatives have said that they would start work on the spending review immediately in order to establish a long-term financial plan for the Council which puts B&NES on a more sound footing financially.
Conservative shadow spokesman for Resources, Cllr Charles Gerrish, said: “If we are to meet the financial challenge all Councils will face over the coming years yet still provide the best possible services to our residents, B&NES will need to undertake a top-to-toe, root-and-branch review of the way it spends taxpayers’ money.
“Sadly, under the Lib Dems, what we’ve witnessed in B&NES are endless project over-runs, a failure to tackle wasteful spending, and the legacy of a £1.5 million black-hole in the Council’s budget plans.
“That means we would have to look at the Council’s budget from the ground up, producing a long-term financial plan which drives out any inefficiencies and puts the Council on a surer footing for the years ahead so that we can better protect our vital local services and keep our Council Tax rates down.”
Via: Bath Conservatives
