A letter from the senior Lib-Dem county councillors
Thursday, 7th October 2010.
Suffolk County Council’s new strategic direction is creating waves at national as well as local level.
If the Tory-run council has detailed plans or a business case they have certainly not shared them with their own backbenchers, let alone opposition councillors, and the wider Suffolk public. So we are left with many questions.
1 How can the Tory-run council predict that they are going to save 30 per cent by “divesting” council services without showing us any figures to back that up?
They have a poor track record of staying within budget on their current external contracts. In adult care, where the majority of care services are contracted out, there is a predicted £1.1m overspend this year, with a similar overspend in Children’s services.
In addition we found that the cost of the contract with Customer Service Direct (CSD) suddenly rose by 12 per cent last year. CSD is the company which supplies the council with the following services: IT,human resources, finance and customer service.
No explanation was given and it was the Lib Dem and Independent group that spotted it in the budget figures.
2 This year we found that staff numbers had suddenly gone up by 550. A hundred of those were completely unexplained. So, while we have constant initiatives aimed at reducing the number of staff at the centre of the organisation, why is it that staff numbers have increased?
3 How can the council make large savings and drastically reduce its workforce at the same time? The estimated 30 per cent savings could mean a reduction of between 3–4,000 staff.
If that is the case then the redundancy payments would be in excess of £100m. In addition the council will need to pay redundancy costs for those middle school teachers who fail to find new jobs. There could be several hundred such redundancies. Where have these costs been factored in and how will they be paid for?
4. What is to happen to the library service in this Brave New World? Will we still have a county-wide service? Who will run mobile libraries and the school library service? Suffolk’s library service is highly valued and at the same time one of the most cost effective services in the country.
5 In what way will the council ensure that standards are properly monitored? In adjacent counties where highways services are already outsourced the standard of, for example, gritting left much to be desired last winter.
The Conservative run council has treated us all with contempt – and no doubt will continue to do so. How can anyone have confidence in their plans? The future of Suffolk’s services looks pretty frightening to us.
If you want to do something about it please sign the petition at: http://savesuffolkservices.blogspot.com/ There are also two Facebook groups Save Suffolk Services and Don’t Privatise Suffolk.
KATHY POLLARD
Leader Liberal Democrat and Independent group
DAVID WOOD
Deputy leader Liberal Democrat and Independent group
If the Tory-run council has detailed plans or a business case they have certainly not shared them with their own backbenchers, let alone opposition councillors, and the wider Suffolk public. So we are left with many questions.
1 How can the Tory-run council predict that they are going to save 30 per cent by “divesting” council services without showing us any figures to back that up?
They have a poor track record of staying within budget on their current external contracts. In adult care, where the majority of care services are contracted out, there is a predicted £1.1m overspend this year, with a similar overspend in Children’s services.
In addition we found that the cost of the contract with Customer Service Direct (CSD) suddenly rose by 12 per cent last year. CSD is the company which supplies the council with the following services: IT,human resources, finance and customer service.
No explanation was given and it was the Lib Dem and Independent group that spotted it in the budget figures.
2 This year we found that staff numbers had suddenly gone up by 550. A hundred of those were completely unexplained. So, while we have constant initiatives aimed at reducing the number of staff at the centre of the organisation, why is it that staff numbers have increased?
3 How can the council make large savings and drastically reduce its workforce at the same time? The estimated 30 per cent savings could mean a reduction of between 3–4,000 staff.
If that is the case then the redundancy payments would be in excess of £100m. In addition the council will need to pay redundancy costs for those middle school teachers who fail to find new jobs. There could be several hundred such redundancies. Where have these costs been factored in and how will they be paid for?
4. What is to happen to the library service in this Brave New World? Will we still have a county-wide service? Who will run mobile libraries and the school library service? Suffolk’s library service is highly valued and at the same time one of the most cost effective services in the country.
5 In what way will the council ensure that standards are properly monitored? In adjacent counties where highways services are already outsourced the standard of, for example, gritting left much to be desired last winter.
The Conservative run council has treated us all with contempt – and no doubt will continue to do so. How can anyone have confidence in their plans? The future of Suffolk’s services looks pretty frightening to us.
If you want to do something about it please sign the petition at: http://savesuffolkservices.blogspot.com/ There are also two Facebook groups Save Suffolk Services and Don’t Privatise Suffolk.
KATHY POLLARD
Leader Liberal Democrat and Independent group
DAVID WOOD
Deputy leader Liberal Democrat and Independent group
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